Nate Oats Speaks Highly of Freshmen as Preseason Practices Begin, Offers Injury Update

Oats spoke highly of freshmen J.D. Davison, Charles Bediako and Jusaun Holt during his first meeting with the media of the 2021-22 preseason.

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — It seems that Alabama men's basketball head coach Nate Oats likes what he's seen so far from his new group of players.

Last Thursday, Alabama men's basketball brought an official start to its 2021-22 preseason by hosting its first practice. Since then, the Crimson Tide has hosted five practices as it prepares for its Nov. 9 season opener against Louisiana Tech.

On Wednesday afternoon, Oats spoke with the media for the first time this preseason. During his press conference, Oats spoke on a wide variety of topics about the team's offseason, but more importantly spoke on what he expects from his players.

Chiefly mentioned in the conversation were guard J.D. Davison, center Charles Bediako and guard Jusaun Holt — all three of Alabama's incoming freshmen. According to Oats, all three are expected to make large contributions despite their youthful status on the roster.

Davison was named a McDonald's All-American for his play at Calhoun High School and also the state of Alabama's Mr. Basketball 2021. His scoring and dynamic play-making abilities are easy to find on the internet, but it's also his passing ability that has Oats impressed heading into the season.

"[Davison has] been better than what I thought in a lot of areas," Oats said. "His passing ability — which you saw some at AAU, like with his high school he had to score it so much you didn't see how great of a passer he is — he can really pass the ball. He's leading the team in assists through these first five practices. He's playing really well."

Bediako was an SI All-American out of IMG Academy and picked the Crimson Tide over Duke, Michigan, Ohio State and Texas. The highly-touted center will bring extra depth at the center position and, at 7-feet tall according to Alabama's online roster, will provide length as the tallest player on the team.

Oats went on to describe what Bediako brings to the table for the Crimson Tide.

"Charles is a great target," Oats said. "Whether he's playing with J.D. or Jahvon [Quinerly], they've been able to find him quite a bit. He's playing well, he's adapted well. The physicality of the college game hasn't seemed to bother him too much so far. I think both those guys can contribute well."

While Davison and Bediako have been garnering most of the attention from the Alabama fan base and the media, Oats also brought up the talents of Holt. While at St. Francis in Georgia, Holt averaged 21.5 points, 8.3 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 2.4 steals per game.

"Another guy that's really kinda picked it up here [...] is Jusaun," Oats said. "Jusaun Holt is really starting to shoot the ball better. Seems like he's a lot more comfortable in the offense. His energy has been good, he's rebounding the ball at a high clip.

"Those three freshmen I think all have a chance to really help us."

With all three players expected to make contributions this season, Alabama basketball is in good hands. That being said, the team is still dealing with injuries. Forward James Rojas still recovering from a torn ACL and guard Nimari Burnett out for the year with the same injury.

“Nimari’s out for the year,” Oats said. “Rojas is still recovering from his deal. He’s still on a timeline to be back hopefully by SEC play. Those are the two that are out."

However, redshirt-freshman forward Alex Tchikou is expected to return after missing the entirety of his freshman year due to a ruptured Achilles tendon. Forward Keon Ambrose-Hylton also suffered a minor knee injury in practice, but is expected to be fine by the season's beginning in November.

"Alex Tchikou is almost back to 100 percent," Oats said. "I mean, he’s able to participate in most of the drills. He’s just not back to where he’s in shape enough to do everything, but he’s getting there. And then Keon Ambrose had a minor knee injury yesterday. He’s day-to-day. He won’t miss any games.

"We’ve got plenty of time before the first game. We’ve got our first closed scrimmage in about a week and a half, and he may miss that, but that would probably be about all he’ll miss.”

While Burnett will be sorely missed and Rojas still being on the mend, the team is still shaping up to have all but one player back before the start of SEC play. With the talent level of the three Crimson Tide freshmen, the season is looking promising should the team remain healthy.