Alabama basketball could see two notable departures
Alabama basketball could be without two more of its stars from last season following an eventful string of announcements Wednesday night.
The news began with Joshua Primo telling ESPN that he will elect to keep his name in this year’s NBA Draft and hire an agent, forgoing his college eligibility. Minutes later, Stadium reported that Jaden Shackelford is entering his name in the transfer portal while also keeping his name in the NBA Draft process.
Primo played in 30 games for Alabama last season, making 19 starts. The 6-foot-6, 190-pound wing averaged 8.1 points and 3.4 rebounds while shooting 43.1 percent from the floor and 38.1 percent from beyond the arc. His best performance of the season came during a 105-75 victory over LSU where he scored 22 points while connecting on 6 of 8 shots from beyond the arc.
"Going into this draft, it was a test-the-waters situation, but as time went on and I continued to get feedback, it became more real each and every day," Primo told ESPN. "I'm ready to help a winning franchise. I talked to Coach [Nate] Oats a lot. He wants what's best for me and is right behind me."
Thursday, Primo made the new official, posting his decision to leave for the NBA on Instagram.
"This has been a lifelong dream for Josh and I am extremely excited for him and his family," head coach Nate Oats said. "He's been great to coach and I am grateful that they trusted our staff to help prepare him for this moment. Our team had a successful season last year and Josh played a big part in that success. We couldn't be happier that his hard work is paying off. He is a terrific young man who has been an incredible representative of our program."
Shackelford played in 31 games, making 19 starts while leading Alabama with 14.0 points per game. The 6-foot-3, 200-pound guard also averaged 3.8 rebounds while shooting 41 percent from the floor and 34.2 percent from beyond the arc.
Alabama also loses four seniors from last year's team, including SEC Player of the Year Herbert Jones as well as John Petty Jr., Jordan Bruner and Alex Reese. In addition, redshirt senior James Rojas suffered a knee injury that is expected to keep him out of the non-conference portion of this season's schedule.
Alabama was able to compensate for the losses by making significant additions to its roster this offseason. The Tide added a pair of transfers in Texas Tech guard Nimari Burnett as well as Furman forward Noah Gurley. Alabama also signed a star-studded recruiting class, featuring five-star guard JD Davison as well as four-star center Charles Bediako and four-star forward Jusaun Holt.