Over the last two weeks, the Alabama menās basketball team has received commitments from four different players.
247sports.com
Over the last two weeks, the Alabama menās basketball team has received commitments from four players and consequently surged up to the No. 15 recruiting class in the 247Sports Composite rankings. The latest player to make a pledge to head coach Nate Oats and his staff was
Yale graduate transfer Jordan Bruner, giving the Crimson Tide five commitments.
But the recent recruiting frenzy, should the four commitments sign pen to paper, puts Alabama over the NCAAās 13-player scholarship limit -- even with a pair of departures and players testing the NBA draft waters. Oats did say his 2020-21 roster will look
āsignificantly differentā from what he put on the court in Year 1, but there are decisions that still need to be made.
With that in mind, here is a breakdown of the Tideās current roster situation as of April 10.
DEPARTURES: James āBeetleā Bolden, Raymond Hawkins
Alabama only had one senior during the 2019-20 season, and that was Bolden, a grad transfer from West Virginia. Bolden provided energy off the bench in his lone year in Tuscaloosa, which was cut short due to the novel coronavirus pandemic. But before the season even started, Oats knew that he had at least one spot to fill with Bolden set to exhaust his eligibility.
Hawkins was a late addition to the Tideās roster, joining the team after Oats was hired as head coach as his first high school signee. However, Hawkins only appeared in three games this past season, seeing the floor in the final minutes of contests. The true freshman chose to enter the NCAA transfer portal on March 13 and will not return to Tuscaloosa in 2020-21.
ENTERED NBA DRAFT: Kira Lewis, John Petty, Herbert Jones
Despite uncertainty surrounding this yearās NBA draft, three Alabama players chose to test the draft waters without hiring agents, which allows them to maintain their college eligibility. During a teleconference with reporters last month, Oats said he was actively recruiting the replacements for Lewis and Petty, while
he assumes Jones will return for his senior campaign.
Lewis is considered to be a potential first-round draft pick after two seasons in college, which means he is very likely to eventually hire an agent and remain in the draft. As for Petty and Jones, this is the last chance for them both to submit their names and receive feedback from NBA teams. At this point, Jones is more likely to return to Alabama than Petty.
RETURNING PLAYERS: Jaden Shackelford, Javian Davis, Alex Reese, Galin Smith, Jaylen Forbes, Jahvon Quinerly, James Rojas, Juwan Gary
At this point in time, the Crimson Tide will return eight players from last yearās team, including five players that regularly saw the floor. Shackelford shined as a true freshman, Forbes provided depth as a wing and Davis, Reese and Smith were UAās options in the low post.
Although they are not new commitments, Alabama will essentially add three players to the mix that were unable to play last year due to either injuries or NCAA transfer rules. It was said that Quinerly, a Villanova transfer, was oftentimes the Tideās best player at practice, and both Rojas and Gary would have given Alabama two more longer wing options than Jones.
COMMITMENTS: Keon Ambrose-Hylton, Joshua Primo, Keon Ellis, Darius Miles, Jordan Bruner
As we already mentioned, the Crimson Tide has the nationās No. 15 recruiting class for 2020, according to the 247Sports Composite. Ambrose-Hylton has already signed, filling the vacancy left behind by Bolden. Primo committed on March 27, and although he hasnāt yet signed, he fills the Hawkins opening. Should Lewis and Petty remain in the NBA draft, Ellis and Miles have spots on the roster after committing in recent days. Unless Jones stays in the draft, too, there will need to be another departure for Bruner to have room at UA next year.
SO, WHATāS NEXT?
Barring another addition, Alabama has a couple of options. If all three players carry out the NBA draft process, the Tide will have enough room for all of its current commitments. But if Jones and/or Petty withdraw their names, two returning players will need to look elsewhere.
āI told our guys, āIf any of you arenāt comfortable -- some of you werenāt recruited to play this type of style -- we will 100 percent help you get to a better spot, if thatās what you want,āā
Oats said last month. āAt this point, none of them made that decision, and we havenāt.
āNow, as we start to get some commits, weāll have those conversations and they may be a little bit harder conversations as they see different guys committing to us. They may realize that maybe their playing time is going to go down. Weāll have those conversations coming up, but I donāt know who theyāll be. Some of that will be determined by our own players, to be honest with you, and how much they want to compete with some guys that weāre bringing in.ā
