How Alabama Basketball's Additions are Adjusting to Life in the SEC

With plenty of new faces in Tuscaloosa, both players and coaches, the development of team chemistry has been a focal point for Nate Oats and company.

MOUNTAIN BROOK, Ala. — Going from place-to-place can be a daunting task for coaches and players alike. 

For Nate Oats and Alabama, there's plenty of new faces to go around inside the program. 

After the departures of Bryan Hodgson to Arkansas State, Antoine Pettway to Kennesaw State, and Charlie Henry to Georgia Southern, Oats was left with a desolate coaching staff. 

The next three hires would be critical.

Meanwhile, on the court, the players were faced with answering yet another bell — replacing the production lost from No. 2 pick in the 2023 NBA Draft Brandon Miller, first-round selection Noah Clowney, offseason transfer Jahvon Quinerly, and seven-foot frontcourt staple Charles Bediako. 

Filling those holes would also be important, and when you combine the two, most basketball experts would normally be talking about a recipe for disaster. The fact that Alabama is still ranked in the preseason AP Top 25 is a huge sign about the kind of respect the program has earned.

It began with the first in a long line of eye-catching additions. On April 17, the Crimson Tide announced the first assistant hire of the offseason, tabbing Nicholls State head coach Austin Claunch to the position. 

Considered a young up-and-comer in the college basketball world, Claunch had coached the Colonels to back-to-back Southland regular season titles in 2020-21 and 2021-22 before struggling to a 16-15 record in a rebuilding year last season. 

"If you don't understand, it's hard to win at Nicholls," Alabama head coach Nate Oats said on Wednesday. "They've got a real low budget. He kind of did it with shear willpower and kind of outworked everybody. He's got a ton of energy. When we hit the portal, he was the one guy I hired who had been in college last year."

Then the transfer portal started to turn in the Crimson Tide's favor. Just days after hiring Claunch, the Crimson Tide landed Hofstra transfer Aaron Estrada — a dynamic graduate-transfer who averaged 20.2 points, 5.5 rebounds and 4.3 assists as a senior for the Pride. 

"His said his goal for being my coach is to get me to that next level," Estrada said about Oats. "He said that's ultimately his goal. No other coach that recruited me really talked about my next step."

Now considered a veteran leader in Tuscaloosa, Estrada appears to be adjusting to the speed of the SEC at an impressive rate.

"He's assimilated great," Oats said. "He's an unbelievable kid. Like, great leader. Plays hard. One of the hardest-working guys I've ever been around. Then his skill level is really high. We chart everything in practices. At the rim finishing percentage is as high as any guard I've ever had. He can finish. Got the whole finishing package. He shoots it well from three. And he can be a great defender. He's not missing much. 

"Really, to be honest with you, I think one of the best things he does for our team is he brings it every day. Like, he's not up, down. Every single day you know what you're getting from Aaron. He's a hard-playing guy. He's going to have some days where he shoots it a lot better than others. Last week he went 10-of-15 from 3-1 day. He's not going to do that every day in live play, but he is going to play hard and bring everything he's got every day."

While Claunch and Estrada were the first additions, they certainly weren't the last. 

Joining Estrada with an April commitment was Cal-State Fullerton Guard Latrell Wrightsell Jr, who averaged 16.3 points, 4.5 rebounds and 2.4 assists as a junior for the Titans. A dynamic guard known for his craft around the basket and three-point shooting ability, Wrightsell Jr.'s skillset fits the Crimson Tide's system to a tee. 

"Two years left, huge," Oats said of Wrightsell Jr. "A tough, physical guard. We like to have that on the defensive side. He's pretty talented on offense, too. Averaged over 15 a game at Fullerton."

In June, Oats made another splash hire, hiring former Birmingham Squadron head coach and New Orleans Pelicans assistant Ryan Pannone. In addition to gaining notoriety for his NBA-level offensive scheme and implementing his Xs-and-Os knowledge to Alabama's advantage, he was instrumental in the landing of North Dakota State transfer forward Grant Nelson. 

"I think everybody up here that's in the basketball [world] knows who he is," Oats said. 

"He was head coach for the Pelicans G League team here in Birmingham, the Squadron. But he works really hard. We were able to get on some Zooms with some transfer guys. He was able to get in there with Grant Nelson particularly, one of his that he kind of targeted."

For Nelson, transferring to Alabama is another chapter in a long-standing grind towards the NBA. Under the guidance of Oats and Pannone, he appears to be right on track.

"Grant took a while, Oats said. "Grant is trying to make it to the NBA. He was real close to staying in the draft this year. Having a guy that's been in the NBA, that's developed guys to play in the NBA, that's Ryan's background. Started in player development, and he's great at it. That certainly helped."

A month after the hiring of Pannone, the Crimson Tide filled their last spot with former Creighton assistant Preston Murphy, who is coming off of a two year show-cause penalty implemented in 2021. 

Murphy, an ace-recruiter, is seeking to to fill the "shark" role for Alabama left behind by Bryan Hodgson — leading many of the program's recruiting efforts. 

"Go to a guy like Preston Murphy, one of the best recruiters in college basketball really since I've been involved in Division I, all the way back to my days in Romulus," Oats said. "Preston is from Saginaw, recruited my kids when I was at Romulus. I think he's one of the best coaches, recruiters in the country."

Two days after the hiring of Murphy, the Crimson Tide gained the commitment Mohamed Wague — a lengthy, bruising forward transfer from West Virginia. Although he's been largely overlooked amidst Alabama's impressive transfer class, he could make an immediate impact in the frontcourt.

"Wague we got late when the portal opened up back for him at West Virginia," Oats said. "He's super athletic, can give us some of that rim protection. We lost Charles [Bediako] late, so we needed to replace him late. He was kind of a perfect replacement for Charles."

While he's struggled with injury since arriving on campus, the 6-foot-11, Bronx, N.Y. native is getting geared up for the season. 

"He hasn't been healthy," Oats said. "Came with an injury from West Virginia, so we haven't been able to have him out there in live drills yet. He's about there to get him out there live."

With turnover comes change, and with change comes trial and error. For Oats, the process of building towards success in 2023-24 is still a work in progress. But the cupboard is anything but bare, ever after losing all three assistant coaches, two NBA first-round selections and two other major contributors to the top-seeded team in the NCAA Tournament. 

"We're experimenting with some stuff," Oats said. "We have a good staff. We're trying to figure it out. We do need to figure it out if we plan on winning at the level we want, because when our defense has been good, that's when we've been able to win at that level."

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