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Newly-hired Alabama basketball coach Nate Oats is already well on his way to piecing the Crimson Tide’s roster back together.
According to a report from Stadium on Friday, sophomore guard John Petty Jr. intends on returning to Alabama next season after entering his name in the NCAA transfer portal earlier this week.
Petty, a former five-star recruit and the state of Alabama’s Mr. Basketball in 2017 and 2018, averaged 10.2 points and 4.2 rebounds per game this past season. The 6-foot-5 guard is one of four Crimson Tide players who submitted their names into the transfer database this week, joining freshman point guard Kira Lewis Jr. and redshirt juniors Dazon Ingram and Daniel Giddens. After graduating this year, Giddens and Ingram will be eligible to play immediately for a new team.
During his introductory news conference Thursday, Oats said he “100 percent” needed to re-recruit his current roster. Next up for the head coach will be retaining Lewis, who was named to the SEC All-Freshman team last season after leading Alabama in scoring (13.6 points per game), assists (2.9 per game) and minutes (31.6 per game). Oats met with Lewis Thursday morning and has made the starting point guard a high priority this offseason.
“If you’re a coach, you don’t look very good without very good (players),” Oats said. "You want to get the best players you can. They’ve got a really good one right here on the roster right now (in Lewis), so I’m going to do everything I can to make sure he’s playing in an Alabama uniform next year.”
