Alabama basketball's 2024-25 roster was finalized on Wednesday with Mark Sears and Jarin Stevenson's decisions to withdraw from the NBA Draft, giving Nate Oats a full roster of 13 scholarship players.
Sears and Stevenson join a returning core of five players from last season's Final Four team, as well as a 4-man class from the transfer portal and the No. 2-ranked high school recruiting class in the country. On paper, it's the most talented roster Oats has ever assembled, and today I'm going to put together what I think the starting lineup will be come November.
As a disclaimer, it's well-known that Oats will commonly utilize a positionless style of basketball, especially when it comes to guards. There are also multiple players worthy of starter-caliber minutes on this roster, and multiple players that can and will play multiple positions, but only five players can start at once. This isn't necessarily a prediction of the rotation as far as minutes are concerned, but a rough depth chart estimate five months out from the season.
- Mark Sears/Aden Holloway/Labaron Philon
Picking the starter here is easy. Sears is a returning All-American, and will be on every shortlist imaginable from SEC to National Player of the Year entering the season.
Behind him will be two newcomers at the point guard spot, Auburn transfer Aden Holloway and freshman Labaron Philon. They'll both have an opportunity to earn minutes, and with both being on the young side (Holloway only a sophom*ore), learning from Sears will be an excellent aid to their growth as players.
The depth at the point guard position is a welcomed site to both Oats and Sears, after Sears was forced to play nearly 34 minutes per game last year due to lack of depth and injuries at the guard spot. Now, Sears has two talented backups learning the ropes that can spell him and keep him fresh for the ends of games.
Shooting Guard
- Latrell Wrightsell Jr./Chris Youngblood
This one was tough, because both players are worthy of a starting spot. I'll give Wrightsell the nod because of his year of experience in Alabama's system already, but Youngblood is a fifth-year senior as well and was the American Athletic Conference co-player of the year this past season at South Florida.
Youngblood has shot over 40 percent from three for three seasons in a row, and at 6-foot-4, has great size for a guard. There's no doubt he'll play starter-caliber minutes, and with his experience it's likely he'll be on the floor at the end of games, even though I don't have him as a starter at the moment.
- Derrion Reid/Houston Mallette/Naas Cunningham
This is where I debated starting both Wrightsell and Youngblood, sliding one of them down to the '3', but I opted to go with the size and potential of 5-star freshman Derrion Reid instead. Reid is one of the highest-ranked recruits in Alabama basketball history, and in addition to being a McDonald's All-American, is representing the country as a member of the Team USA U18 team this summer.
Reid has a great blend of size and athleticism at 6-foot-7 and is an extremely versatile defender, which gives Oats more length to work with in the starting unit. Behind Reid is Pepperdine transfer Houston Mallette, yet another 40 percent 3-point shooter to come off the bench and light up the scoreboard.
Freshman Naas Cunningham rounds out the depth on the wing, a long and athletic but raw prospect who has potential but will need some refining before he earns major minutes.
Power Forward
- Grant Nelson/Jarin Stevenson/Mouhamed Dioubate
Grant Nelson's return means he can play the entire season at his natural position of power forward. He spent a lot of last season playing the small-ball '5' but really hit his stride in the NCAA Tournament playing next to another big in Nick Pringle. With a full season of SEC basketball under his belt, he'll be a force.
Behind Nelson are two second-year players who gained lots of experience last year. Jarin Stevenson tested the NBA Draft waters, and after a summer of putting on more weight and improving, could be in for a breakout season. Remember, Stevenson reclassified and was supposed to be in high school a year ago, he'll enter his sophom*ore season at just 19 years old.
Then there's Mo Dioubate, who doesn't have the offensive skillset to garner a large amount of minutes, but can always serve as an energy sparkplug when needed as seen in his NCAA Tournament heroics against Charleston and Grand Canyon back in March.
It's a very deep frontcourt, unlike last season. Nelson and Stevenson could both play the '5' if need be, but the center position has two new players better than any option the team had at center a year ago.
- Clifford Omoruyi/Aiden Sherrell
Of all the positions on the floor, center got the biggest upgrade from this past season to 2024-25. Rutgers transfer Cliff Omoruyi was possibly the best shot-blocker in the transfer portal, averaging nearly three blocks per game last year, and was exactly what the Crimson Tide was missing on the interior defensively.
While Omoruyi isn't an exceptional offensive player, that's where 5-star freshman Aiden Sherrell comes in. At 6-foot-11, he's extremely versatile with a knockdown jumper, even from long range, and getting to sit behind Omoruyi will allow him to adjust at his own pace to high-major basketball as he moves up from high school without too many responsibilities being immediately thrown onto him in the physical SEC.
Overview
This likely won't be what the rotation looks like come the 2025 NCAA Tournament, but it's a rough estimate for where these players may fall as the season begins. Plenty of players have the opportunity to play different positions, and the competition for minutes will be fierce. The way the team gels as far as leadership and rotations are concerned will determine how far it can go in the end, but on paper, this looks like the best team Nate Oats has ever constructed.
