The transfer portal is becoming more important each passing year in college basketball. The fact you can land a transfer player now and he is immediately eligible, if it is his first time transferring, can be such an advantage. Noah Gurley was an impact transfer when he stepped on campus at Alabama filling a void of the stretch forward that Coach Nate Oats loves to have on the floor.
Noah Gurley was an unranked recruit on all platforms and only held two known offers out of high school. He was a 6’7" 175-lb forward that couldn’t shoot well and had trouble finding the right role for him on a college team. He ended up signing with Furman in 2018. Furman was a good team in the Southern Conference, so Gurley was going to have to make a great impression to be able to play early on and he did just that. As a freshman, Gurley started 26 of 31 games and averaged over 8 points a game on a Furman team that went 25-8 and even cracked the AP Top 25 poll. What Gurley accomplished as a freshman was just the beginning of a rapid transformation to a solid basketball player.
Fast forward to Gurley’s junior year, and he is coming off a season where he started every game as a sophomore and averaged 14 points per game. His junior year is when you started to see his game grow and his role becomes a primary scoring stretch forward. He shot nearly five threes per game making 34% of them, and his scoring rose to above 15 per game as well. A once unknown high school recruit with no power 5 offers is now one of the best mid-major players in the country, and larger programs started to notice.
Once Gurley’s junior season ended, he decided that he was going to enter the transfer portal. While he didn’t garner any power 5 attention out of high school, he had plenty of them coming to his doorstep now wanting him to play for them. He had interest from the likes of Duke, Auburn, Florida, Miami, and Alabama. The former All-SoCon 1st Team player had numerous programs wanting him, but in the end, he ultimately chose to ride with the Tide. On April 11, 2021, Gurley decided to transfer to The University of Alabama, the team he dropped 15 points on earlier in the 2020-21 season in a competitive game that Furman lost in Tuscaloosa.
In Gurley’s first season at Alabama, there were growing pains going from a mid-major conference to the SEC. He started out slow and ultimately started coming off the bench in an effort to ease himself into everything. He had some bright spots such as a double-double against Tennessee where he scored 20 points and had 10 rebounds. He always brought effort defensively, but the offensive end was where he had the most trouble. He shot below 30% from three and 60% from the free throw line, which are two areas that Alabama needs him to be more consistent in. Overall, he shot nearly 50% from the field and was second on the team in blocks with 25, so he’s bringing energy and effort to the team each night.
A lot of times for mid-major transfers it takes a year of game action for them to get acclimated to the speed and physicality of a power 5 conference. This will be the case for Gurley, who will likely still come off the bench most games, but his role will still be very important. Alabama doesn’t need him to be the scorer he was at Furman, but to be closer to a 10 ppg scorer than 6 ppg like he was last year would help tremendously. Raising his three-point percentage and shooting better at the free throw line will be the area the coaching staff will want to see this year going into his senior season. With Charles Bediako the cemented starter at the center position, Gurley will play a key role this year backing up Bediako and playing big when they play bigger lineups. Look for Gurley to have a bounce-back season this upcoming year.
