Guard Jaden Shackelford Helping Bring Alabama Basketball Excitement to New Heights

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — With the hiring of a new coach, new staff, and the recruitment of a plethora of skilled athletes, Alabama basketball fans already had a lot to be excited about.

And then they got a look at Jaden Shackelford.

The excitement reached new heights during last Sunday’s charity exhibition against Georgia Tech, though, when the freshman guard made his unofficial debut.

Against the Yellow Jackets he scored 21 points, including six 3-pointers, accompanied by three steals, a block and a plus/minus of 18. Shackelford led the team in both points and steals during the 93-65 Alabama victory at Coleman Coliseum.

Crimson Tide head coach Nate Oats said that he’s glad that people are starting to come around on why he’s been on the Shackelford train since day one.

“He was huge,” Oats said. “I’ve kind of been talking about how much I loved him all summer and fall and now everybody sees why I love him so much. His shot-making ability is huge for us because we spread the floor — we need shot-makers out there — but he also brings you a toughness on the defensive end.

“He’s a physical guard that can make shots. He can also make plays. I mean he can get in the lane and spray it out.”

After Oats’ hiring back in March, he immediately made Shackelford a priority.

At the time, many were impressed with his size. While he was already pretty big when Oats flew out to visit him in California in the spring, he has continued to work in the weight room and is currently listed at 6-3, 195 pounds.

“I saw him — I recruited him — after I got the job,” Oats said. “We flew out — shoot I think the second day after I got the job — out to California to make sure he came. I saw him then. I was impressed with where he was at then.

"When he came back then he was even a little bit bigger and stronger and he was in great shape when he came in the summer so I don’t know that I was surprised when he came, but I was really happy with where he was at when he came.”

Along with Oats, Alabama assistant strength and conditioning coach Mike Snowden got to work on continuing to improve the frame of Shackelford.

So far, it has paid off huge dividends for the Crimson Tide, and he's already become a big part of Alabama's game plan.

“It’s been very important being in the weight room with Snowden or whoever it may be,” Shackelford said. “[Oats] just really stressing going and boxing somebody out and getting the rebound as a guard so we can get in our offense quicker has just been really important.”

With his size becoming a stronger and stronger point with the passing of time, Shackelford’s focus has shifted over working on the details of his game. While he had a big impact in Sunday’s exhibition, he acknowledged that his work is far from over.

“Just looking to make improvements where I didn’t do as well in the scrimmage because there’s a million things I didn’t do well or didn’t do right that we looked over in film, so just making small improvements to help our plan and help our team play better and win,” Shackelford said. “I’m in a position to make plays for myself, for my teammates. I feel like being able to shoot the ball at any time is really helping me and my teammates flow on the offense, so I feel pretty confident on where I stand on offense.”

In years past, Alabama has struggled with its confidence in regards to shooting. This translated to large stretches of games when the Crimson Tide had lackluster shot-making tactics, poor selection, not being patient enough or taking unnecessary shots and rushing the set-up.

Under Oats, a new era of confidence has been ushered in, and it has been so far both on and off the court.

“[Oats] having confidence in us is really just — that’s the main thing,” Shackelford said. “Everybody on the floor has confidence shooting the ball. They didn’t have this type of confidence coming in when coach first came in, so I feel like everybody with growing confidence is ready to run that.”

It's a different approach compared to last year’s squad, which finished with an 18-16 record and a first-round loss in the NIT to Norfolk State.

Shackelford emphasized that after the win over Georgia Tech, his and his team’s confidence is only growing.

“It helped a lot,” Shackelford said. “It’s easy to stay confident when I have teammates that are confident in me — a coach that’s confident in me — to shoot the ball, make or miss, so it’s just really helping me out.”

Alabama open the regular season against Penn at Coleman Coliseum on Tuesday, and both the players alike are eager to see more of the new-look Crimson Tide.

“Super excited,” Shackelford said. “Everybody’s bought in. Everybody’s looking forward to this game, so I’m very excited to see the outcome of our game.”