The 2012-13 college basketball season is officially finished, but the offseason is already in full swing for every program in the country, including The University of Alabama.
Head coach Anthony Grant and his assistants are hot on the recruiting trail in search of a third piece to their 2013 recruiting class, a class that already possesses center Jimmy Taylor and power forward Shannon Hale.
The player the Crimson Tide wants and needs to secure – or resecure – is Jaren Sina.
Sina, a 6-2 point guard from Gill St. Bernard’s School in Gladstone, N.J., originally committed to Alabama as a sophomore, but he decommitted and chose to go to Northwestern instead. Since then he has been released from his scholarship with the Wildcats after the team fired head coach Bill Carmody.
He now lists his top four choices as Alabama, Northwestern, Seton Hall and Indiana. Sina plans to visit the Capstone on Thursday and make a decision on where he will play college basketball before the April 17 deadline.
Securing Sina would increase the Tide’s number of scholarship players to 12, and that would certainly help in terms of depth, as Alabama suffered from the losses of Carl Engstrom and Andrew Steele last season.
It would also give Grant a third point guard on his roster, as Trevor Releford will be a senior in the upcoming season and Retin Obasohan is still learning the game. Any additions at that position will be welcomed.
But most importantly, it will give the Tide an offensive weapon alongside a couple of inside defensive threats, and Grant needs those aspects in his fifth year at Alabama.
The Tide missed the NCAA tournament this year, and it can be argued that it must get back to the Big Dance and make some noise in order for Grant to receive a contract extension. With Sina in the fold, Grant will have a deep bench and plethora of guards to work with to make a run at next year’s March Madness.
If Sina decides to come to Alabama, he will join Releford, Trevor Lacey, Levi Randolph, Rodney Cooper and Obasohan to complete one the best crop of guards in the Southeastern Conference.
But if Sina spurns Grant’s offer, the Tide will lose out on an excellent 3-point shooter and pinpoint passer. It could be a big blow in what could be Grant’s final season in Tuscaloosa.
