Mark Sears believes Alabama is becoming a 'basketball school'
Alabama point guard Mark Sears thinks that Alabama is becoming a basketball school. In a traditional football mecca, this is a pretty bold claim. However, there is some merit behind Sears’ claim.
It’s also important to point out that Mark Sears said, “We’re becoming a basketball school.” He didn’t say that he thinks basketball has surpassed football or that Alabama is a basketball school already. Instead, he pointed out that the program is on its way.
At 8-1, the Crimson Tide are now fourth in the AP Top 25 Poll. They’re also coming off an upset win over Houston, then ranked first in the country. In fact, Alabama’s only loss is to an unbeaten and third ranked UConn team.
Alabama is poised for a deep run in the SEC and March Madness this season. This is head coach Nate Oats’ fourth season at Alabama. He has made it to the NCAA Tournament the previous two seasons, including a Sweet Sixteen run in the 2020-21 season.
So, based on the team’s on-court success, it’s easy to see why Mark Sears thinks that Alabama is becoming a basketball school.
At the same time, it’s hard to think of Alabama as being anything but a football school. The tradition and talent of the football program is just undeniable. However, there’s no reason why Alabama couldn’t be great at both sports for an extended period of time.
Mark Sears came to Alabama as a transfer from Ohio. He is currently averaging 14.4 points per game and 3.3 assists per game. Alabama’s next two games will be tough, against Memphis and Gonzaga.
Nate Oats on how Alabama overcame poor shooting against Houston
Against Houston, Alabama had to overcome a poor shooting night from Brandon Miller. The Crimson Tide did so and came away with a massive win. Nate Oats explained how it happened.
“We’ve got a lot of players. Obviously Brandon’s talented. He’s really good. He’s a 6’9 guard that can do a lot. But, for a freshman that’s never played college basketball before, you can’t expect him to be Superman every night. We’ve got to get production from lots of guys,” said Oats.
“Lots of guys stepped up at different points. And I think it shows our depth…I thought there’s plenty of guys that played hard, played well. Some guys that struggled through the course of the game stepped up late when we needed them to. So it shows a lot about them.”