Alabama expecting 'a big jump' from a more physical Jarin Stevenson

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Jarin Stevenson should be getting ready for his freshman season of college basketball, but Monday night’s season opener against UNC Asheville will be Year 2 at Alabama for the 6-foot-11 forward. And he appears to have taken the next step.

Stevenson is back with the Crimson Tide after going through the NBA draft process after the 2023-24 season ended. After gaining feedback from his workouts with pro teams, Stevenson is excited to continue working with Alabama’s coaches and a now-loaded roster.

“I saw that we had a good team here at Alabama, so just the chance at a national championship has always been a goal for me,” Stevenson said.

“I feel like I can still get a lot better through Alabama. Alabama has great coaching. Coach Oats, Coach Pannone, they always push me to get better and teach me a lot of different things. I feel like just going through another year here, I can learn a lot and become stronger.”

Strength is an area of emphasis for Stevenson as he gets set for his second year in the SEC.

“The biggest thing for me is definitely getting stronger, becoming more physical,” Stevenson said. “We’ve been working on it in practice, more collisions. And defensively – especially because last year we weren’t the best defensively, we’ve been working on that. 

“That’s the main thing, the physicality. Thinking through the game. We’ve been going over film and seeing different coverages.”

As Alabama prepares for its season opener, his teammates and coaches have noticed a more physical Stevenson. In the first preseason exhibition against Wake Forest, Stevenson recorded 10 points and six rebounds, and against Memphis, he had 11 points and three boards.

“He’s definitely playing more physical,” said Alabama head coach Nate Oats. “I was talking with a couple of our guards after practice last week and they’re like, ‘Man, Jarin’s got those NBA drives.’ He’s 6-10 and he gets low and he drives, you’re not knocking him off of a drive. He’s finishing like a man at the rim.

“I think that’s one area you’ll see it very clearly right out of the gate because he’s driving the ball with some physicality.

“But he’s also rebounding the ball on the offensive end with more physicality. Getting in there and not getting bumped off. If a guy tries to box him out, he’s still coming because he’s a lot stronger now.”

Last year, Stevenson played in all 37 of the Tide’s games, including five starts during SEC play. He averaged 5.3 points and 2.7 rebounds per game and scored in double-figures in six games throughout the 2023-24 campaign. Stevenson scored a season-high 19 points in Alabama’s win over Clemson in the Elite Eight, and Oats pointed to that as a turning point.

“You look at our first game against Clemson here, he looked like he still was in high school. You look at our last game against Clemson, he grew up,” Oats said. “He looked like a man out there. He had 19 points. He played well. If he didn’t play that well, we don’t go to a Final Four.”

Oats also brought up Stevenson’s age. He turned 19 years old this month, when most people, including the Alabama head coach, would be entering their 20s as college sophomores. It’s why the Crimson Tide believes there are big things in store for Stevenson this season.

“He’s got a whole year of college basketball under his belt – how the game’s played physically,” Oats said. “He was able to get stronger.

“I think you’re gonna see a big jump out of Jarin this year.”

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