TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Herb Jones isn’t walking through that door for No. 2 Alabama basketball on Saturday afternoon. However, the Crimson Tide brings a similarly blue-collar forward off the bench.

Sophomore Mo Dioubate isn’t quite a like-for-like comparison to Jones, but the two share more than a few notable traits. Both forwards stand in at 6-foot-7. They’re both lefties. Most importantly, they both embody the blue-collar mentality Nate Oats has implemented into his program since joining Alabama six years ago.

“They’re tough, they’re hard-nosed, they can move, they can guard multiple positions,” Oats said when asked to compare the two forwards on Friday. “Herb was a little — he played point guard in high school. He was a little more smooth in one-on-ones. Mo’s a little stronger, more physical, can kind of go to work inside a little bit more. They’ve got a lot of similarities.”

Oats inherited Jones, as the former four-star recruit signed with Alabama as the No. 90 overall player in the 2017 class. After a solid first season under Oats, Jones broke out in his senior year, earning SEC Player of the Year and SEC Defensive Player of the Year honors while leading Alabama to SEC regular-season and conference tournament titles.

From there, the Greensboro, Alabama native was selected No. 35 overall by the New Orleans Pelicans in the 2021 NBA draft. Jones earned first-team NBA All-Defensive last season after signing a four-year $54-million deal.

That was actually Oats’ pitch to Dioubate when he recruited the Bronx, New York native as the No. 78 overall player in the 2023 class.

“When I recruited Mo, I recruited him on the premise that, ‘We took a guy that’s pretty similar to you and turned him into an NBA starter,”’ Oats recalled. “... I thought Mo’s the closest guy [to Jones].”

Dioubate has experienced a similar second-year surge to Jones under Oats. The sophomore has nearly doubled all of his stats from a season ago, averaging 6.6 points and 5.4 rebounds over 14.5 minutes per game.

He also leads Alabama, winning eight Hard Hat Awards while ranking second on the team with 348 blue-collar points. The sophomore’s eye-popping 1.0 blue-collar point per minute average eclipses Jones’ 0.75 per minute during his award-winning 2020-21 season.

Like Jones, Dioubate will likely need four years in college before heading to the next level. However, Oats wouldn’t be surprised if his current blue-collar forward follows the same path to success.

“Talking to NBA people, they’re well aware of Dioubate,” Oats said. “He leads our team in plus-minus. He leads are team in offensive leverage, which would be crazy to think. But our offense is better when he’s in the game because he gets to the O-boards, he gets guys open, he makes good plays in the pocket.”

Alabama (21-3, 10-1) will need another strong performance from Dioubate as it takes on top-ranked Auburn (22-2, 10-1) inside Coleman Coliseum at 3 p.m. CT on Saturday. The top-two matchup will be televised on ESPN.

He’s been very good for us,” Oats said. “Herb was also one of those unsung heroes. … I think they both have that sort of impact on games.”