Before the most anticipated season in Alabama men‘s basketball history, there’s no room for mild projections.
The high expectations only leave space for bold predictions.
So let’s make a few.
The Crimson Tide starts the season with a matchup against UNC Asheville on Monday (8 p.m. CT, ESPNU) at Coleman Coliseum. Ahead of that game, here are three bold predictions about No. 2 Alabama for the 2024-25 season.
Labaron Philon wins SEC freshman of the year
We’re all aboard the Labaron Philon hype train.
No, he wasn‘t a McDonald’s All-American. Philon wasn’t even a five-star prospect, per the 247Sports Composite. He was a four-star player and the No. 35 prospect in the class.
But the Mobile product has already turned heads in his short time in Tuscaloosa, and in a big way.
In the first exhibition game against Wake Forest, Philon scored 13 points, grabbed four rebounds and tallied five assists. He followed it up with 17 points, five rebounds and seven assists against Memphis in the second exhibition.
Philon can make an impact on both ends of the floor. If he continues to rise like he has, he‘s going to be one of the best freshmen in the conference this season. Let’s project that Philon becomes the best and is recognized as such.
Alabama defense ranks higher than its offense
Back in the early months of 2024, this would have sounded ludicrous.
Alabama‘s defense ranking higher than its offense? It definitely wasn‘t last year. The Crimson Tide ranked No. 2 in adjusted offensive efficiency in the country and No. 111 in adjusted defensive efficiency, per KenPom.
We’ll go bold here and say Alabama’s defense experiences a meteoric rise.
The Crimson Tide took intentional steps to make that happen. Alabama coach Nate Oats went looking for a defensive-minded assistant for the opening on his staff. He said at SEC Media Day that he told candidates: “If you can‘t coach a top five defense in the country, don’t bother applying.”
Oats ended up hiring Brian Adams, a longtime NBA assistant with serious defensive chops. He‘s worked with Doc Rivers, Tom Thibodeau and more. He‘s been with the Detroit Pistons, Los Angeles Clippers, Boston Celtics and Philadelphia 76ers. Now Adams is tasked with improving Alabama’s defense.
He has some strong pieces with which to work. Alabama didn‘t have a true rim protector a season ago, then it went and added one of the best in the country in Rutgers big Clifford Omoruyi. 247Sports listed him as the No. 13 transfer for this past cycle. He‘s a 6-foot-11, 250-pound center who blocked 221 shots over his four seasons at Rutgers. Omoruyi‘s effort’s earned him a spot on the Big Ten All-Defensive team multiple times.
Combine Adams and Omoruyi with elite depth that will allow Oats to bench anyone who doesn‘t play defense, and it‘s a formula for the defense to skyrocket back toward the top of the KenPom efficiency rankings.
Just saying the defense will drastically improve isn‘t bold enough, though. We’ll predict the defense ranks so high that it surpasses the offense. Maybe something similar to two seasons ago when the offense ranked No. 20 and the defense ranked No. 3.
Heck, let’s predict both end up in the top 10.
Alabama basketball cuts down four nets
Predicting that Alabama will win a national championship isn‘t really that bold this season. So, we’ll take it one step farther.
The Crimson Tide will win the SEC regular-season title, the SEC Tournament, reach the Final Four and win the entire NCAA Tournament.
That would translate to four net-cutting ceremonies.
Cutting down that final net will be the most difficult. And frankly, doing all four is not all that likely, even for an elite team. But the hype around this team is at an all-time high, so why not be bold and predict Alabama goes four-for-four?
Nick Kelly is an Alabama beat writer for AL.com and the Alabama Media Group. Follow him on X and Instagram.
