Nate Oats: 'We Anticipate Quinerly Coming Back'

Oats said that he believes the star point guard will return for a sixth college season.

© Vasha Hunt-USA TODAY Sports

Alabama basketball had a tremendous year in 2022-23.

The Crimson Tide won the SEC regular season and tournament championships — and was the No. 1 overall seed in the 2023 NCAA Tournament.

A lot of the success was in part to the veteran leadership of guard Jahvon Quinerly.

Quinerly averaged 8.7 points and 3.6 assists per game last season — mostly off the bench.

Many wouldn't believe it, but Quinerly still has one year of college eligibility remaining — and head coach Nate Oats believes he will use it, according to the Tuscaloosa News' Nick Kelly.

"We anticipate [Jahvon] Quinerly coming back," Oats said at the SEC Spring Meetings in Destin, Fla.

This comes just an hour after fellow guard Mark Sears announced his decision to return to the Crimson Tide in 2023-24. Sears averaged 12.5 points per game in 2022-23.

"We're super excited about Sears coming back," Oats said. "Sears is one of the best guards in the SEC. He was all-conference last year. Getting him back is huge. He was a big part of what we did last year and he will be a big part of what we do this year."

"Great news on Sears. Hopefully we get news like that soon on Quinerly."

Quinerly reportedly still has a workout with the Milwaukee Bucks — however, the deadline to make his decision is Wednesday.

Alabama lost guard Jaden Bradley to Arizona in the transfer portal — the return of both Sears and Quinerly would be huge for the Crimson Tide's outlook in 2023-24.

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