After two straight historic NCAA tournament runs, head coach Nate Oats and his new-look Alabama squad will be tasked with maintaining the standard he has set in Tuscaloosa.
The team is coming off a second-straight Elite Eight appearance, and enters the 2025-26 season ranked No. 15 in the preseason AP Top 25. It was picked to finish fourth in the SEC preseason poll, behind Florida, Kentucky and Tennessee.
Alabama returns just five players from last season, including star guard Labaron Philon Jr., who chose to return to school instead of remaining in the NBA Draft.
“We lost quite a bit, but I think we got good talent coming in,” Oats said at SEC Tipoff.
Oats and elite recruiter, assistant coach Preston Murphy, brought in strong reinforcements to replace the outgoings, with their recruiting class ranked No. 10 by 247Sports. The program brought in three freshmen and four transfers, led by former five-star and Miami guard Jalil Bethea.
“Jalil is a supreme athlete with unlimited potential and is a player that has every measurable that the NBA is looking for, as he was a projected top-five pick before starting his collegiate career,” Oats said in May.
Oats called Bethea an elite playmaker and believes he will be a great fit for the team’s system.
Bethea will be sidelined for much of the Crimson Tide’s gauntlet nonconference schedule after suffering a broken pinky toe. Bethea could make his Alabama debut in late November, according to college basketball insider Adam Zagoria.
Guard Aden Holloway will return for his second season in Tuscaloosa. He averaged 11.4 points per game and 41.2% from beyond the arc last season, providing the Crimson Tide a spark off the bench.
Holloway may see an expanded role in 2025-26, especially while Bethea is out. He primarily served as the team’s sixth man last year, averaging 21.1 minutes per game.
Alongside Philon, Bethea and Holloway in the backcourt will be Latrell Wrightsell Jr. and Houston Mallette, both of whom will return after missing the bulk of last season. The duo is expected to provide key depth and much-needed veteran experience after guards Mark Sears and Chris Youngblood departed for the NBA. Wrightsell played a key role in the Crimson Tide’s run to the NCAA Final Four in 2023-24, with the team undefeated in games where he scored double digits.
Wrightsell made his return to the court in the team’s 96-71 exhibition win over Furman on Sunday and scored 12 points. He was cleared to begin non-contact work in September.
“It was great to see Trelly back out,” Oats said, using a nickname for Wrightsell. “He’s been a pretty good player here for us. He’s got to get back in the game flow. He’s been practicing a little bit, but this is the most he’s done.”
The Crimson Tide frontcourt will look different this year, with Aiden Sherrell the lone forward or center remaining from 2024-25. Sherrell should see a significant role in the offense due to his versatility, having played both forward and center last season.
Sherrell shot 55.5% from the 3-point line down the stretch after starting the season 4-for-24. He could be again used as a stretch four — something he did alongside Clifford Omoruyi last season — this time alongside center and Bucknell transfer Noah Williamson, who was named Patriot League Player of the Year last season.
No. 15 Alabama will open the 2025-26 season on Monday, hosting the North Dakota Fighting Hawks at Coleman Coliseum. Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m. CT, and fans can tune in on SEC Network+.
