Former Alabama Basketball Forward Alex Tchikou Announces Transfer to Rhode Island

Alex Tchikou has finally found a new home. After entering his name in the NCAA transfer portal in March, the former Alabama forward announced his transfer to Rhode Island on Sunday morning.

Tchikou, a native of Paris, France, joined Alabama as the No. 65 player in the 2020 class, according to the 247SportsComposite rankings. The 6-foot-11, 230-pound forward missed his first season with the Crimson Tide after rupturing his Achilles tendon. Last season, he appeared in just three games, averaging 1.3 rebounds over 1.7 minutes.

Tchikou is the fifth player to transfer from Alabama this offseason, joining Keon Ambrose-Hylton (SMU), Jusaun Holt Georgia) Juway Gary (Nebraska) and James Rojas (Wichita State).

Alabama added two transfers this offseason in Ohio guard Mark Sears and St. Bonaventure guard Dominick Welch. The Crimson Tide also brought in a five-man signing class featuring four SI99 members in small forward Brandon Miller, point guard Jaden Bradley, forward Noah Clowney and shooting guard Rylan Griffen as well as highly-rated JUCO forward Nick Pringle.

Alabama currently has 12 scholarship players on its roster, one below the NCAA limit. Last week, head coach Nate Oats said he has no plans of filling the final spot, explaining that he felt good about his team's depth moving forward.

“I don’t want to bring a kid in here that’s a transfer, that’s expecting to play significant minutes, and we just can't give them the minutes,” Oats said. “When you go through our roster, we don’t really have too many holes. Now I’m not saying that means we’re going to win X number of games or all that, but we’re not missing any one position like drastically with a huge hole there.

“Unless they were just that good to really move the needle a lot, I’m not going to screw a kid, bring him in here, play him five minutes a game. I just don’t think it’s right to do that to a kid just to have security in your roster in all spots.”