Alabama basketball isn’t done with its NCAA Tournament run, Nate Oats already added a vital piece to next year’s roster.

The Crimson Tide dipped into the transfer portal last week, receiving a commitment from Pepperdine guard Houston Mallette. The 6-foot-5, sharpshooter is one of the top available scorers and is coming off a junior season in which he averaged 14.7 points, 3.2 rebounds, and 2.4 assists while knocking down 41.5% of his shots beyond the arc.

It’s been a busy few weeks for Mallete since he entered his name in the transfer portal following the firing of Pepperdine head coach Lorenzo Romar earlier this month. His father, Wesley Mallette, the director of intercollegiate athletics at the University of California, Riverside, has had a front-row ticket to the action.

This week, Wesley sat down with Tide Illustrated to discuss Alabama’s recruitment of his son and ultimately why Houston elected to roll with the Tide.