Mark Sears withdraws from NBA draft, will return to Alabama for 2024-25 season
Mark Sears announced that he will return to Alabama for a fifth and final year after testing the NBA draft waters. Sears declared for the 2024 NBA Draft while maintaining his college eligibility on April 17 and participated in the NBA Draft Combine. Now, he’s coming back.
“Last dance #rolltide,” Sears posted on X on Wednesday.
Sears waited until the final day for early entrants to withdraw because of a workout with the Milwaukee Bucks, according to Crimson Tide head coach Nate Oats. He also worked out for the Houston Rockets before making his decision. Sears sought feedback from NBA teams, and the belief was if he didn’t receive a guaranteed contract, he would return to school.
Sears, a senior, has one year of eligibility remaining after spending two seasons at Ohio and two seasons at Alabama. Sears went through the draft process last offseason and ultimately decided to return to Tuscaloosa, Alabama for the Crimson Tide’s 2023-24 campaign.
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It proved to be a wise decision as Sears was Alabama’s leading scorer this season during the program’s first-ever Final Four run. Sears averaged 21.5 points, 4.2 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game while shooting 50.8 percent from the field and 43.6 percent from 3-point range in 37 straight starts. He also started 37 games in a row as a junior at Alabama in 2022-23.
Scoring 20 points in 26 games this past season, which is a new school record, Sears set the Alabama single-season mark for points (797). Before the Crimson Tide’s NCAA Tournament run, Sears was named First Team All-SEC and a consensus second-team All-American.
*** This story will be updated.
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