TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Latrell Wrightsell Jr. in the most recent edition of Alabama basketball’s self-produced Rising Tide documentary, called the Crimson Tide’s practices “probably the most intense practices that I’ve been in, in my life.”
That intensity has been commonplace since Nate Oats took over as Alabama's head coach. The Tide practices the same way it plays, with speed in transition and intensity on both ends of the floor. But this year’s Alabama team has been able to reach a new level on the practice court thanks to players being deliberate about giving 100% every day in practice.
“We’re not having to coach effort much this year, which is great,” Oats told reporters Thursday ahead of Alabama's matchup against Arkansas State. “You coach schemes. You coach how to attack things. You coach time and score, typical stuff you would think of in coaching basketball you get to coach. You don’t have to beg guys to play hard, argue with them about their attitudes. We haven’t really had that this year. We’ve got a really good group that’s all about the right stuff, that’s holding each other accountable, that’s pushing each other."
Alabama's dedication to giving maximum effort in practice starts at the top. Star guard Mark Sears has been an example of how effort in practice has helped make him and the team better as the 2024-25 season gets underway. Oats has praised Sears for this improved defense in the early part of the season and said the fifth-year guard is “going extremely hard every day on the defensive end trying to set the tone.”
Oats also complemented Alabama’s freshman for getting acclimated and quickly learning the kind of effort it takes to compete at the college level. Some players, particularly elite recruits who have always been the standout players growing up, struggle to adapt to competitiveness and physicality when thrust into a situation where they’re not the team’s best players. That isn’t the case for the members of Alabama’s top-five recruiting class.
“The young guys, sometimes you have to teach them how hard they have to play when they get in college," Oats said. "We haven’t had to do that. Labaron [Philon] came in right out of the Gate. Derrion [Reid], one of the best things he does is play hard. He’s tough. He’s physical. Aiden Sherrell, you saw how many offensive rebounds he had in Game 1. Our young guys up through our veteran guys, we’ve got a hard-playing mature group and I think they push each other to make each other better in practice every day.”
After Alabama’s exhibition game against Memphis on Oct. 28, Oats called out his players for dropping their heads after going into halftime with a 20-point lead. The Tide was outplayed in the second half, particularly in the blue-collar areas of the game that Oats strongly emphasizes.
The players seemed to have received Oats’ message during Alabama's 110-54 win over UNC Asheville in the Tide's season opener. Alabama never let up against an inferior opponent and Oats was “happy with the effort from everybody” after the game.
As Alabama prepares for a tougher test in Arkansas State — The Red Wolves went to the Sun Belt Conference Tournament championship game last year and are led by former Alabama assistant Bryan Hodgson — the players' effort in practice should continue to pay dividends. The Crimson Tide will be in plenty of more competitive games during nonconference play. But Alabama players are getting a good taste of what those games will look like in practice, thanks to a high level of buy-in from top to bottom.
“The biggest thing in my opinion is the depth and the maturity of the team,” Oats said. “Because we’ve got the depth so hopefully there’s always going to be five really good players going against five really good players. You also have a maturity factor where we don’t have anybody coming in being a distraction, not playing hard, us having to coach effort.”
