TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Sam Walters bulked up roughly 20 pounds since showing up to Alabama with a wiry 6-foot-10 frame last summer. The freshman forward has also added a bit of maturity and poise since then.
Walters recorded his second straight double-digit performance Wednesday night, helping No. 13 Alabama pull out a 98-93 overtime win over No. 24 Florida. The Florida native scored 14 points off the bench, sinking 4 of 7 shots from beyond the arc, three of which came in the second half and came up clutch for the Crimson Tide.
After shooting 2 of 18 from deep in the first half, Alabama became hesitant from beyond the arc after the break. The Crimson Tide didn’t attempt its first 3-pointer until the 11:11 mark of the second half.
Walters buried it, ending a 6-0 Florida run. Thirty seconds later, he drilled another one to prevent a struggling Alabama team from letting the game slip out of reach.
“We all know Sam’s not going to pass up any 3s,” Alabama head coach Nate Oats said with a smile following the game.
At this point, why would he?
Walters is shooting a blazing 43.9% from beyond the arc in his debut season. That includes 7 of 14 over his last three games where he has increased his scoring output in each outing.
However, Walters' recent rise hasn’t just revolved around his ability to knock down shots.
One of the freshman’s biggest moments Wednesday night came with seven seconds remaining in overtime when he crashed the boards to tip a missed shot into the lap of guard Aaron Estrada, who put in a layup to clinch the game for Alabama.
“Crashing is something that we’ve been stressing all week,” Walters said of the tip. “...We figured out we needed to crash harder because we’re really athletic, we’re pretty long. So that’s a thing we’ve been trying to work on. That’s something I’ve been working on as well. I’m glad I was able to tip it to him 'cause he scored.”
While Walters’ tip didn't count as a rebound, he did come away with three boards and a pair of blocks against Florida. That came after he recorded a season-high eight rebounds during Alabama’s win against Texas A&M over the weekend.
“Sam has grown a crazy amount,” Alabama forward Grant Nelson said. “When he got here, he couldn’t really guard, was a step slow, didn’t understand defensive positioning. Over the last couple of months, he’s just stepped it up and taken coaching really well.”
Walters' defensive efforts haven’t gone unnoticed by Oats, who praised him for his improvements earlier this week. Following Wednesday’s game, Oats joked that he doesn’t want Walters to forget about his offensive game either, stating the freshman can develop into a nice two-way player moving forward.
“It was good he was a two-way guy tonight,” Oats said. “His defense was better, he had the blocked shot in there. He made some tough plays. You know he hit four big 3s, we needed all of them.”
Wednesday’s performance was extra sweet for Walters, as the Florida native grew up rooting for the Gators and played his high school ball roughly an hour away from Gainsville at The Villages Charter School.
“It was definitely surreal,” he said after the game. “That’s the team I grew up watching. It was fun to play against them.”
Alabama’s having a lot of fun watching Walters coming into his own in Tuscaloosa. At this rate, the Tide figures to be seeing much more of the freshman moving forward.
