Alabama Men's Basketball: 2022-23 Season Preview

With the deepest roster it's had since Nate Oats arrived in Tuscaloosa, the Crimson Tide is poised to improve after a disappointing 2021-22 campaign.

After a disappointing end to the 2021-22 season, Alabama men's basketball looks to recapture the magic that it possessed back during the prior season that saw the Crimson Tide win the SEC Tournament and make it all the way to the Sweet 16.

And this year, the odds seem to be in the team's favor.

Despite adding eight new players to the team in four freshmen and four transfers, Alabama basketball has the deepest roster that it has had since head coach Nate Oats' arrival in Tuscaloosa in 2019. At SEC Tipoff '23, Oats addressed how confident he is with his current roster.

“We’ve got a good, young group," Oats said. "We’ve got a lot of new faces. We’ve got 12 kids on scholarship, only four of them have ever played a game for Alabama before and [Jahvon] Quinerly’s out ‘till maybe SEC play, sometime in December, with an ACL. So we’ll have three guys that have ever played a game for us suit for our first game, that’s Darius [Miles], Charles [Bediako] and Noah [Gurley]. That means we’ve got new eight new faces — four freshmen, the other ones are all transfers.

“We need a lot of production out of the new faces, so I think you’ll see some, at the beginning of the year, there may be some games we’re a little inconsistent. I think we’ve got a lot of room for growth, and we’re looking to try to be peaking at the end of the year. So we may go through a few growing pains early. We’ve got a tough non-conference schedule to get us ready. But we’re looking forward to it.”

The Crimson Tide has a tough non-conference schedule to start the season, as Oats mentioned. On top of having a game scheduled at Houston as well as a home game against Memphis and a neutral-site game against Gonzaga, Alabama will also play several top-tier opponents at the Phil Knight Invitational — including a potential matchup against preseason No. 1 North Carolina.

Oats has always said that he prefers a tough non-conference schedule to start the season so that the team can get all of its issues ironed out before SEC play, and this year is no different.

Speaking of SEC play, the Crimson Tide has a decently tough schedule, with one positive note being that it will host Kentucky. A Southeastern Conference schedule is never easy, and a home-and-home with Auburn and a road game at Tennessee doesn't provide any relief. Another tough draw is a home-and-home against Arkansas, who is expected to be one of the top teams in the conference this season.

A road game at Oklahoma for the SEC/Big 12 Challenge won't be an easy game, either.

While the schedule might be tough, Alabama's talent and depth has the potential to win quite a few games this season. Let's take a look at the Crimson Tide's 2022-23 roster:

Backcourt

Alabama Athletics

With All-SEC senior guard Jahvon Quinerly expected to be sidelined until at least early December while he recovers from an ACL injury that he suffered at the tail-end of last season, one might think based off of previous seasons that Alabama might be a little thin in the backcourt.

That would be a mistaken assumption.

Alabama is deeper in both the backcourt and frontcourt than at any other time under Oats' tenure and it shows. Even with the absence of Quinerly, the Crimson Tide is still loaded at both the one- and two-spots. Upon his return — whenever that may be — the danger of Alabama's backcourt will only increase.

While Quinerly is out, Ohio transfer Mark Sears and freshman Jaden Bradley will battle for the day-one spot at point guard. Both are highly capable, but Sears has the edge due to experience. At Ohio, Sears averaged 19.6 points, six rebounds, four assists and two steals per game last season. Beyond the arc, he averaged 40 percent for the Bobcats, making him a welcome addition in Tuscaloosa. Regardless of whether he is a starter or not, Sears will be an instant contributor for Alabama.

Bradley was a five-star recruit and brings with him an old-school, pass-first game at the one. Bradley is also a physical guard that brings a solid defensive game with him and provides consistent stability on offense. Between him and Sears, the point guard spot is more that safe while the team awaits Quinerly's return.

The two-spot presents arguably more competition than any other position on this year's squad, and with good reason: the depth at the role is leaps and bounds better than in prior years.

Sophomore guard Nimari Burnett will finally see playing time in an Alabama uniform after missing his first season with a knee injury. A former McDonald's All-American, Burnett brings skills on both ends of the court and will likely be the starter, but he will have all the competition he can handle behind him.

Junior Darius Miles brings with him SEC experience to the wing. Last season, he played in 30 games and averaged 5.8 points and 3.3 rebounds per game. While effort was an issue for Miles in the past, he seems to have matured in the offseason and is looking to have a solid third season under Oats.

Dom Welch arrived in Alabama as a grad-transfer from St. Bonaventure. A versatile and big-bodied wing, Welch brings over 100 games of experience with him. Throughout his career, Welch has ben highly dependable on both ends of the floor, averaging 11 points and six rebounds per game while shooting 37 percent from downtown.

Freshman Rylan Griffen is another four-star that will be an instant contributor this season. As the third-best shooting guard in the nation according to 247Sports, Griffen is an elite scorer and will also compete with Burnett at the two-spot.

The group of Burnett, Miles, Welch and Griffen also also possess the size to play small forward should Oats opt to have a three-guard lineup, which is oftentimes his go-to move when he wants to play small. That being said, the Crimson Tide has a sure-fire starter at three.

With that, let's move on to the frontcourt.

Frontcourt

Alabama Athletics

Freshman Brandon Miller is all that and a bag of chips. Enough said.

Alabama fans have been excited all offseason to see the 2021 McDonald's All-American take to the hardwood, and they don't have to wait much longer. Over in Europe on the Crimson Tide's summer tour, Miller averaged just under 23 points a game alongside some impressive defensive stats. In the team's scrimmage loss at TCU, Miller was once again the highlight with 33 points.

Despite being a true freshman, Miller is essentially a guaranteed lock as a starter for Alabama this season. He'll likely play the three-spot as small forward. Oats has started freshmen out of necessity in the past, but for Miller it's because of one thing: he's just that good.

Other big guards on the team like Burnett, Miles, Dom Welch and Rylan Griffen will compete for minutes behind Miller at the three. But it'll be Miller that will receive the starting job, particularly with Burnett likely being a starter in the two-spot at shooting guard.

At the four, graduate student Noah Gurley will likely be the Crimson Tide's starter. Not only does he bring leadership to the position, but the former Furman transfer also brings no shortage of experience from his 2021-22 campaign with Alabama.

Gurley might be the starter, but he'll be competing with JUCO transfer Nick Pringle. Pringle played for a season at Wofford before transferring to Dodge City Community College, where he became one of the most sought-after JUCO recruits in the country. Pringle brings with him the body and athleticism fit for an SEC power forward, and it shows.

Pringle could also see minutes at the five, but he will likely have two talented players ahead of him in that role.

Sophomore center Charles Bediako was one of the Crimson Tide's representatives at SEC Tipoff, and with good reason. Bediako was easily one of Alabama's most consistent defenders last year and has already established himself as a leader on the team despite his age. He's one of the best rim protectors on the team and serves as a lob threat on the offensive end of the court.

Behind him will be freshman Noah Clowney, a 6'10" four-star recruit who brings length and talent to the front court. Clowney needs to add size and strength to his frame before he sees significant minutes, but there's no doubt that he will ultimately be a contributor for the team.

Conclusion

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One of the common threads of discussion so far this preseason has been Oats and his players approaching this season with a chip on their shoulder. Complacency was an issue last season that Oats has repeatedly brought up during his press conferences and was clearly the issue with last year's team that has stuck with him the most this offseason.

Oats laid out one of his team's biggest goals while addressing the chip and his players will be bringing to the table this season after such a lackluster end to 2021-22.

"One of our goals is to try to be peaking at the right time this year," Oats said. "Let’s not peak in December or January. So we’ve gotta be strategic with how we manage player loads, all that, practice and all that — but a lot of it’s more mental. Just like you said, having a chip on your shoulder and wanting to prove something. We really only have four guys that have played a game here before, and I think they all have something to prove. Quinerly was the only one that played significant minutes on the team that won the SEC Championship, and he kind of went out on an injury. Now, he’s got something to prove to prove that he can get back to the same place he was before his injury. We’ve got a lot to prove this year.”

Mentality was a key problem with the team last year, and Oats seems to have done everything in his power to remove that problem from the equation. Every player that has met with reporters this preseason has addressed how they are using last season as a motivating tool to learn from, and that should bring confidence to Alabama fans heading into this season.

It's a long road to Nashville and the SEC Tournament, but this Crimson Tide team is more than capable of recapturing the magic of 2020-21 should it be able to play to the full potential that it has on paper.

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