Happy Monday, everyone. It was a solid weekend on the diamond, as the softball team took two of three from Georgia and baseball followed suit vs Oklahoma. Sadly, basketball season came to a close as Alabama went down hard to Duke.
Much of the postmortem chatter has centered around the legacy of Mark Sears.
He did it all during three seasons in which Alabama:
Earned the No. 1 overall seed in the 2023 NCAA Tournament and won the 2023 SEC regular season title and tournament championships
Reached the Final Four in 2024
Made the Elite Eight in 2025
“I don’t know that there’s been a better three-year run in Alabama history,” Oats said.
Sears was part of all of it. No other player can say that.
“When I was a little kid, you’d never really think about Alabama basketball having a good team and having success,” he said. “So to know that I was a big part that helped change that narrative and have high expectations for the past three years …”
He paused, then continued.
“Alabama is my home. I love the University of Alabama,” he added. ”We left the program in better hands than when we came in.”
This is clearly the best three year run in program history, and Sears has his fingerprints all over it. Mark had a very good final season in Tuscaloosa individually, but for whatever reason it wasn’t quite as good as the prior campaign, and that’s across the board. Still, he was an All-American who will go down as the most successful player this program has ever seen to date.
As far as what held Alabama back from reaching their own national championship aspirations, Nate Oats said this.
“Two nights ago we broke the NCAA record, but it wasn’t consistent enough, making threes at a high level for everybody,” Oats said. “And you kind of look at the guys that made the bulk of the threes two nights ago — [Mark] Sears, [Chris] Youngblood and [Aden] Holloway only made one each [against Duke]. What were they, 3 for 16? As opposed to all the ones they made two nights ago.”
Third, as Oats put it, “we’ve got to figure out ways to win when we don’t shoot it well.” Earning and making free throws, as well as offensive rebounding, were two of the non-shooting areas Oats felt did not come through enough to make up for the lack of three-point shooting.
The reality is that Alabama was never going to beat Duke without elite three point shooting. This team is built to take half its shots from behind the arc. They were able to beat some teams this year while not shooting their best.
Oats has already turned toward building next year’s roster. 7-foot Bucknell transfer Noah Williamson was reportedly in Tuscaloosa yesterday, and several more portal targets have been linked to Alabama. Of course, the first question will be who returns from the current roster.
On next season:
Aden Holloway: “Yep. I love Alabama.” Also: “You can’t forget to mention Latrell Wrightsell.”
Mo Dioubate: “That’s the goal. But I haven’t thought about it that much.”
Aiden Sherrell: “That’s the plan for sure.”
Derrion Reid: Quote deleted; ‘plans to return.’
— Alabama Crimson Tide (@forevercrimson_) March 30, 2025
Those comments obviously aren’t binding. There have been rampant rumors that Reid in particular has other suitors after him.
Labaron Philon has a big NBA decision to make.
“It’s really hard, I would say, for myself, because, like, you know, you try to deny hearing it, but it gets around,” Philon said. “People start asking you a lot of questions, but you just got to tune all that out.”
Philon said that up to this point — which happens to be the Elite Eight against a blue blood in his inaugural March Madness run — he finds that his coaches have done a “great enough job” to just stay “focused on playing Alabama basketball and being in the Alabama program.”
“You know, I never take this program for granted. And ever since I stepped on campus, I feel like the coaches pour all the energy into me, so that made me want to give that energy back to them,” Philon said.
Mo Dioubate wants more playing time, and he is on schedule to get it.
When asked if being a starter for the Crimson Tide was a goal, Dioubate gave a convincing campaign.
“Yeah. That’s always the goal, for me to play more minutes,” Dioubate said. “I know the work I put in.”
“I know what I deserve on the court, and the other guys know that as well,” Dioubate said.
Dioubate acknowledges the room for growth, though, after improving from 2.9 points and 2.4 rebounds per game over an average 7.7 minutes as a freshman to 7.3 points and six boards in an average 16 minutes per contest in 2025.
It’s hard to imagine Mo not starting next season as Oats looks to build a tougher team. Hopefully he sticks around.
Nate will have to rebuild at least part of his bench staff again.
Pannone, a Clearwater, Florida native, has spent the past two seasons primarily running the Alabama offense with Adam Bauman, the director of scouting & analytics. A season ago, en route to the first Final Four in program history, the Crimson Tide offense ranked No. 2 nationally in adjusted offensive efficiency, per KenPom. This season, it ranked No. 4 in the nation.
Prior to joining Oats’ staff at Alabama, Pannone coached all over the country and the world. He spent the 2022-23 season serving as an assistant coach in the NBA for the New Orleans Pelicans. Prior to that, he was the G League head coach of the Birmingham Squadron/Erie BayHawks from 2019-22.
In football notes, it sounds like Ty Simpson is clearly leading the QB race at the moment according to the esteemed Kennington Smith III.
Ty Simpson is the solid No. 1 quarterback on the depth chart. Simpson’s experience has been the separator through eight practices. His handle on the offense has been notable, and it has translated to confidence in his play. He has been a part of high-profile battles before, and those experiences mixed with his natural talent are resulting in a strong first half of spring practice.
“For Ty, I just think it’s his veteran aspect,” guard Geno VanDeMark said. “He’s just kind of, he’s relaxed out there.”
“Ty, he’s a great leader,” cornerback Zabien Brown said. “Great vocally and a great overall leader.”
There is a lot of positivity in that piece. The receivers, particularly transfer Isaiah Horton have reportedly looked great. He does think that Alabama will need to shop for an offensive tackle over the summer, however.
Alabama’s football staff contracts were announced.
If Grubb were to leave Alabama for another job before the end of his contract, he would owe 75% of his total remaining salary if the position is within the SEC and 50% of his total remaining salary if the position is outside the SEC or in the NFL. The contract stipulates, “If Employee terminates this Contract without cause to accept a Head Coach position at an FBS institution or with an NFL football team, liquidated damages shall not be payable by Employee.”
The only other new hire, assistant defensive backs coach Jason Jones, had his two-year deal approved. The former Crimson Tide football player will make $250,000 this year and $450,000 the second year.
One of the most notable contract changes was general manager Courtney Morgan, who helped lead Alabama’s efforts in securing a top-three recruiting class in the 2025 cycle. He signed a three-year deal that will pay him $825,000 the first year and $875,000 in the second and third years.
Last, Kalen DeBoer has been impressed with Maurice Linguist on the recruiting trail.
Crimson Tide head coach Kalen DeBoer was asked about Linguist’s recruiting prowess on Wednesday.
“He’s phenomenal,” DeBoer said. “He’s just a guy in the building, first of all, that brings just good juice and energy, and he’s a pleasure to be around. If you’re the head coach, a staff member, and then that is certainly seen by our players and felt by our players.
“And then in the recruiting process, I just think he’s attractive for a parent, for their son to want to come here and be coached, because they’re cared for, they’re loved, they’re taught at an extremely high level. He does just such a great job in all those ways.”
That’s about it for today. Have a great week.
Roll Tide.
