Film study: What Alabama basketball is getting in Latrell Wrightsell Jr.

Cal State Fullerton guard Latrell Wrightsell Jr. is Alabama’s second addition via the transfer portal this offseason, alongside Hofstra graduate transfer Aaron Estrada. The 6-foot-3, 189-pound guard chose Alabama over Iowa State, Minnesota, Ole Miss, among others.

Let’s dive into the film room to see what Alabama is getting in the first-team Big West recipient.

Traditional Stats: 16.3 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 2.4 assists on 54.5% true shooting.

Offensive Role: Secondary ball-handler

Defensive Role: Point of attack, helper

— 87th percentile on catch-and-shoot jumpers

— 81st percentile on runners and floaters

— 80th percentile on dribble jumpers

— 33rd percentile in isolation

— 15th percentile at the rim

Alabama’s backcourt will be four players deep with the additions of Wrightsell and Estrada, assuming Mark Sears and Jahvon Quinerly return to school. Last season, the backcourt included a trio of Sears, Quinerly, and Jaden Bradley – who was a net negative from a floor-spacing standpoint.

Wrightsell isn’t a lead initiator like Quinerly or a sharpshooting spacer to the degree of Sears, but his skill set is something Alabama didn’t have in its arsenal from the guard position in 2022-23.

Wrightsell understands how to get to his spot and navigate angles as a second-side ball-screen operator. He uses head fakes and hesitation dribbles to rise into mid-range pull-ups where he converts on 44.6% of his attempts. Last season, 38.6% of Wrightsell's attempts came from the mid-range, a rate that will likely tumble in Nate Oats’ rim-and-3 system.

He also has legitimate range on 3-point jumpers, ranking in the 90th percentile in attempts from 25 to 30 feet away.

The most translatable part of Wrightsell's in-between game is his floater. He has impressive touch, converting on 47.5% of his floaters, whilst ranking in the 83rd percentile in floater frequency, according to Synergy Sports.

Wrightsell profiles as a secondary ball-handler, given his passing struggles against ball pressure vs. top opponents and inability to generate rim attempts.

It’s incredibly concerning for a 6-foot-3 guard to be more efficient on short-range 3s than rim attempts in the Big Sky. This isn't something that will likely improve at the high-major level.

For reference, here’s a list of combo guards with a 25 percent usage rate who shoot less than 50% at the rim on less than 80 attempts on the season. None of these players are high-major caliber talents, so it begs the question of whether Wrightsell will be a serious rotation piece for Alabama. Short answer: It’ll likely depend on his finishing development, but we’ll see.

Now onto the film.

On this possession in the first round of the 2022 NCAA tournament against No. 2 Duke, he struggles to generate space from Trevor Keels and looks to evade contact with this wonky finishing angle.

Here, Wrightsell fails to initiate contact with the defender, instead throwing up an off-balanced attempt.

Wrightsell offense is two-fold, but his defense is extremely projectable to the high-major level.

As seen in this compilation, Wrightsell is a defensive playmaker, evident by his 2.6% steal rate last season. He is adept at defending with verticality and has discipline at the point of attack while also showing lateral quickness to alter driving angles.

Wrightsell can handle point-of-attack responsibilities in lineups with Quinerly but also displays enough verticality to anticipate off-ball utility in lineups with Sears or Estrada.

Wrightsell is likely best suited for a fourth-guard role, averaging somewhere between 12 to 15 minutes in his first season at Alabama.

It’ll be vital for him to show progression in terms of his processing as a finisher to counter hard closeouts and not be too reliant on floaters.

The Omaha, Neb. native has two years of eligibility remaining.