Bama Central

Alabama Basketball Lands First Transfer Portal Target

Nate Oats picks up point guard Mark Sears, one of the nation's leading scorers, who fits into his style of play.
Katie Windham|
Alabama Basketball Lands First Transfer Portal Target
Alabama Basketball Lands First Transfer Portal Target

Since losing in its opening game of the NCAA Tournament, Alabama basketball has seen four scholarship players enter the transfer portal. On Thursday evening, Nate Oats and the Crimson Tide received their first commitment from the portal in Ohio point guard Mark Sears. 

The in-state product out of Muscle Shoals said in his announcement tweet, "I'm coming home."

Sears was 28th in the country last season in scoring, averaging 19.6 points per game. The 6-foot-1, 185-pound guard shot 40.8 percent from 3 and 88.4 percent from the free throw line and scored double figures in 33 of Ohio's 35 games this season, including 10 and 11 points against SEC opponents Kentucky and LSU. He also averaged 6.0 rebounds and 4.1 assists. 

He spent the past two seasons with the Bobcats before officially entering the transfer portal April 1. Sears originally played at Muscle Shoals High School before transferring to Hargrave Military Academy in Virginia. He was coached in AAU basketball by Scott Whittle, who also coached current Alabama guard JD Davison. The Crimson Tide point guard tweeted out his congratulations to Sears. 

Davison is one of several Alabama players yet to officially announce their plans for the upcoming season along with Jahvon Quinerly and Darius Miles. Earlier this week, Jaden Shackelford declared for the NBA draft, and Juwan Gary, Keon Ambrose-Hylton, Alex Tchikou and Jusaun Holt have all entered the transfer portal. 

This will not be the last transfer portal announcement for the Crimson Tide. With Keon Ellis and James Rojas graduating and Sears' recent commitment, this leaves one scholarship spot open for Oats and his staff to continue hitting the portal with the potential of three more spots opening up depending on the decisions from Davison, Quinerly and Miles. Alabama is also bringing in a top-three recruiting class. 

A Look at Ohio G Transfer Mark Sears

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Katie Windham
KATIE WINDHAM

Katie Windham is the assistant editor for BamaCentral, primarily covering football, basketball, gymnastics and softball. She is a two-time graduate of the University of Alabama and has covered a variety of Crimson Tide athletics since 2019 for outlets like The Tuscaloosa News, The Crimson White and the Associated Press before joining BamaCentral full time in 2021. Windham has covered College Football Playoff games, the Women's College World Series, NCAA March Madness, SEC Tournaments and championships in multiple sports.

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