Alabama basketball is a legit Final Four threat and Brandon Miller will lead them there
With about a month remaining in the regular season Alabama Basketball has maintained its ranking as a top 5 team in the national polls. Alabama is famously a football school, but the Crimson Tide basketball team are making their presence felt every time they step onto the floor. With wins over Michigan State, North Carolina, and then number 1 Houston, Alabama is a contender. Surprisingly Alabama has never made the final four, and last made the elite 8 in 2004. And the man who will lead the charge to get them over the hump is a freshmen named Brandon Miller who was no more than 1 years old, the last time Alabama made a legitimate title run.
Alabama has 2 legitimate NBA prospects
They say that a child shall lead them, and Alabama basketball literally has their youngest players leading the way. Brandon Miller and Noah Clowney are the best players on the Crimson Tide team this year, and last season they were both playing in high school at this time. But a year later both young forwards are first and third in scoring for the Crimson Tide while leading the team in rebounds at 8 per game apiece. NBA scouts have taken notice and both are projected to be first round picks in this year’s draft should they choose to leave early. And Brandon Miller is projected as the number 1 pro prospect in all of college basketball. But what sets Alabama apart is that of the teams currently ranked in the nation’s top 5, they are the only team with 2 projected first round picks, and only Houston has even 1 of them. And when the lights are on and time to perform in March, it is your best players who are expected to get the job done. And although Alabama has had a string of talented freshmen on their roster for the better part of the last decade, this is the first time where they can enter any game in college basketball and say that they have the best player in the arena on their team.
Alabama has the talent to play with anyone in the nation
Their record speaks for themselves that Alabama can win basketball games. But their talent goes beyond their two star freshmen. Alabama may not be the top name in college basketball recruiting but for the last 3 years they have hung around in the top 15 with the 12th ranked recruiting class in 2020, the 14th in 2021, and the 3rd in 2022. This means that as of 2022 they are not recruiting better than programs like Kansas and Kentucky. Coach Nate Oats has figured out that turnover is almost inevitable in big time college basketball. But if you can make sure that you get enough of the players on the board, you can continue to reload for another championship run. Alabama has been reloading over the past few years, and even though top recruits like J.D. Davison and Josh Primo have left early, they’ve been able to retain enough talent to battle the biggest names in college basketball matchup for matchup.
Alabama has made the most of the transfer portal
In the transfer portal era, Alabama has truly made the most of what it has to offer. Because on their roster right now are six division 1 transfers. The Crimson Tide are succeeding because when a player leaves their program, they are able to get established college basketball players to take their place. And the task for coach Oats is simple, with more than enough talent at his disposal, he needs to get all of these players to buy in to doing something that Alabama has never legitimately done, which is to compete for a national title. Throughout most of this season they have played 11 men in their rotation, 4 of which are freshmen, and 6 of which are transfers. Alabama has been able to take a bunch of talented players who for the most part had never played together before this fall, and get them to work together to beat some of the best in college basketball, teaching a masterclass on how to go all in on the transfer portal, and do it right.
The Bottom Line
Alabama basketball has never been considered a true national contender, that is until now. They have all the ingredients of a championship team, and can matchup with almost anyone in the nation. But their ability to make history may still come down to two freshmen. If it is true that a child shall lead them, then Alabama will go as far as their least experienced players can take them, and with the NBA Draft just months away, this will likely be their only chance to get the job done.
KNOW THE GAME. WIN THE GAME.
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