TUSCALOOSA, Ala.— Since Alabama basketball head coach Nate Oats’ hiring in 2019, the Crimson Tide has grown renowned for its shooting ability from downtown in addition to the extremely fast-paced play style.
There’ve been pros and cons to this, especially last season, as Alabama led the country in points per game, but was bottom-10 in points allowed per game due to some trouble defending and sizing up to opposing bigs down low.
This offseason, Oats and assistant coach Preston Murphy went all-out in the transfer portal and the recruiting trail by making eight new additions to the program––three of which listed at 6-foot-8 or taller. Also, two 6-foot-11 players from the 2023-24 Final Four team returned, continuing this big improvement inside.
After three games and three victories, the No. 2 Crimson Tide will have its first road test of the young season on Friday against No. 13 Purdue––a fellow Final Four team from last season. The Boilermakers lost two-time Naismith College Basketball Player of the Year and 7-foot-4 center Zach Edey to the NBA, but they still have multiple bigs that Oats is game-planning for.
“We’re gonna have to keep size in on their size for the most part,” Oats said during Thursday’s press conference. “Against McNeese [last game], you go small and be alright, I don’t know if we’re going to be able to go small too much against 7-foot-2 [Purdue center Will Berg].”
While the improvements down low on both ends have helped the Crimson Tide to start the season, Oats believes the team has to do a “better job of keeping them off the glass” than against McNeese, who beat Alabama 12-10 in offensive rebounds on Monday. However, despite the size, Purdue has also struggled in this stat category to open up the season, which has given Oats somewhat of a dilemma.
“I’ve seen [Purdue] coach [Matt] Painter has been talking about their rebounding, so I’m sure he’s all over them about it,” Oats said. “They haven’t rebounded as well as he would like from what I’m seeing, so I’m sure that it’s going to get picked up, and we’re going to really have to do a better job keeping them off of the offensive boards.”
To help win this major key to the game, detailed six new and returning Alabama bigs and forwards who will need to use their length, most of which being 6-foot-8 or taller, plus one whose brutal force outweighs his size.
“So we’re gonna have to keep in Grant [Nelson], Cliff [Omoruyi], Aiden Sherrell––growing up [in the midwest] hopefully this will be a big game for him,” Oats said. “A freshman (Sherrell) who’s got three games under his belt, he’s our biggest guy, so can we get him to give us some good quality minutes against their size?
“Can we play Jarin [Stevenson] at the three and four a little bit more to stay bigger across the front line? Derrion Reid at the three a little, get some size. We’re gonna have to go that way. I also think even though [Mouhamed] Dioubate’s not big, he’s tough, he’s physical and we can get him in there. He seems like he’d do great in the Big Ten with his toughness and physicality, so we may need to get him in there to bring some toughness to us.”
If these six can play up to Oats’ standard and win the battle at the rim on Friday night in West Lafayette, Ind., it will make an overall victory against a top-15 team much more likely. Although it’s extremely early in the season, this could be a statement win that will likely provide some momentum ahead of a gauntlet that is Alabama’s schedule for the next 30 days, which includes four other currently ranked programs.
The heavyweight matchup between No. 2 Alabama and No. 13 Purdue will tipoff on Friday, Nov. 15, at 6 p.m. CT on Peacock.
