Jahvon Quinerly Is Starting to Hit His Stride for Alabama
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Jahvon Quinerly is starting to play some really good basketball.
On Wednesday night, the No. 3 Alabama Crimson Tide put a beating on Florida, winning 97-69 en route to the team's first 11-0 start in SEC play since the 1955-56 season, and Quinerly was a huge part of it.
The senior point guard scored 11 points in the game and shot 3-for-5 from beyond the arc, while adding five assists in a masterful passing display.
Quinerly has embraced his role as sixth man coming off the bench, similar to his role on Alabama's 2020-21 SEC Championship team where he was awarded SEC Tournament MVP.
"He's getting back into his groove, he and I talked about it," Alabama head coach Nate Oats said. "He's been great in practice. It's the best I've seen him since last year."
In last season's NCAA Tournament, Quinerly suffered a torn ACL in the opening minutes of the Crimson Tide's opening round loss to Notre Dame. Following the injury, he announced his intentions to return to Alabama for his senior season and made a recovery at unprecedented speed — making his first appearance in 2022-23 in the Crimson Tide's third game of the season.
Since then, he has slowly but surely gotten his legs back under him and has quietly become one of the most important pieces in a dynamite Crimson Tide offense that now ranks in the top-15 nationally according to the analytics service KenPom.
Quinerly has regained his quick first step that he uses to blow by defenders and get to the rim, and his 3-point shot has improved dramatically since last season.
In 2022, Quinerly shot just 28 percent from downtown. Now, he's shooting over 40 percent from three in SEC play. He's posted double figure scoring games seven times since the turn of the new year, including four of the last six games.
"When he shoots the ball like he's been shooting it he's tough to guard," Oats said. "Because you can't sag him, you have to get up on him and he can get by anybody."
More important than the scoring, though, Quinerly has been the perfect facilitator for an Alabama offense filled to the brim with shooters and outside threats. The former 5-star point guard has dished out at least five assists in three straight games.
"Once he gets in the lane he's one of the best passers, if not the best in the country," Oats said. "He's finding people, he's getting assists. [...] It's nice to be able to have him."
Quinerly's teammates shared Oats' sentiment.
"He gets everybody involved," Alabama guard Mark Sears said. "It's great to play with a point guard that can do that, with the playmaking and making everybody on the court better."
Two years ago when Alabama was similarly running through the SEC, Quinerly was a primary catalysts for its success. Now, here in 2023 he's doing it again, and could once again be the engine that propels the Crimson Tide to a couple more SEC championships.
Next up for Quinerly and Alabama is archrival Auburn. The Iron Bowl of Basketball will tipoff at 1 p.m. CT from Neville Arena and will be aired on ESPN.
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