Last week Alabama basketball learned starting point guard Kira Lewis Jr. will leave for the NBA draft. However, the Crimson Tide is still waiting to hear back from starters John Petty Jr. and Herbert Jones, who declared for the draft last month.
During a radio appearance on the Gary Harris Show on Tuesday morning, head coach Nate Oats provided an update on both undecided players. Petty and Jones have yet to hire agents and can still elect to return for their senior seasons provided they withdraw their names from the draft by the June 15 deadline.
Oats indicated that he is confident Jones will return to the Crimson Tide, stating that the forward was simply taking advantage of his ability to test the draft waters heading into his senior season. The athletic defender earned SEC all-defensive honors last season, leading Alabama in charges taken (22), deflections (84) and floor dives (31) while averaging 7.9 points and 6.4 rebounds per game and shooting 48.4 percent from the floor. However, his season was limited due to various injuries, including a fractured wrist which forced him to play with a cast over the final eight games.
“It made sense for him to do it and get some feedback, but he just wasn’t healthy enough to really put himself to where he needed to get,” Oats said. “So I’m pretty confident he’ll be back based on talks with him and his dad.”
Oats said Petty is “really up in the air” as the sharpshooting guard waits for more feedback from NBA teams. Petty ranked No. 9 in the nation shooting 44 percent from beyond the arc last season. He also led the Crimson Tide with 6.6 rebounds per game while averaging 14.5 points.
Oats said that it will be difficult to judge Petty’s draft stock until the NBA draft picture begins to clear up. The league is currently suspended due to the novel coronavirus pandemic, leaving the NBA draft order uncertain. Limitations caused by the pandemic have also restricted Petty from working out in front of teams.
“It’s hard to predict,” Oats said. “He’s one of those guys that’s borderline. Is he early second, mid-second, late second, not drafted, somewhere depending on what team says what. He’s a really hard one to predict. I think that some teams would take him early second round, and some of those second-round picks get guaranteed money. If he could a guaranteed contract, I think it’d probably make sense for him to go. If he doesn’t have a guaranteed contract, I think if he came back he could play his way into the first round. And I think he knows that. I think he’s a smart kid, and him and his mother Regina will make the smart decision in this case.”
Earlier this month, Alabama signed four members to its 2020 class. The Crimson Tide also saw Jaylen Forbes transfer to Tulane and Raymond Hawkins transfer to Long Beach State. Tuesday, praised both the pair of freshman forwards while wishing them the best at their new programs.
“They’re both good kids,” Oat said. “Raymond just came in. He ended up being our fourth big, there just wasn’t enough time. I talked to (Long Beach State head coach) Dan Monson for a while this past weekend on him and just reassured him that he’s a great kid and what he’s going to do. He just needed a fresh start really, and I think he got it.
“And Jaylen Forbes is one of the hardest-working kids we had. Just struggled a little bit. He’s a shooter, and he struggled maybe with how fast we played. His athleticism maybe didn’t quite match up with the speed.”
Even after the departures, Alabama is still at 14 scholarships — one over the NCAA limit. The Crimson Tide would fall back to the limit if either Jones or Petty elects to leave for the NBA but will need to see one more departure if both players return to the team.
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