Jahvon Quinerly Etches Name in Alabama Basketball Lore with Second SEC Title
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — When the Coleman Coliseum buzzer sounded and the sea of crimson filling the stands erupted at the exhilaration of victory, Jahvon Quinerly walked off the court making a simple gesture.
He pointed to his ring finger.
This gesture, signifying the SEC regular-season championship that No. 2 Alabama basketball secured in its comeback win over Auburn, didn't seem like one of overwhelming excitement, but one of calm expectancy — almost like he's been here before.
Because he has.
The fifth-year point guard has seen a lot in his time at Alabama. He arrived as a transfer from Villanova in the summer of 2019, committing to the Crimson Tide just after head coach Nate Oats' hiring.
He's seen ups, he's seen downs, and he's seen championships.
"I think he's embellished the blue-collar winning attitude that we've tried to establish from year one," Oats said.
Quinerly began his Alabama career sitting out for the entirety of the 2019-20 season due to an NCAA transfer rule. He first donned the crimson and white as a key cog on the 2020-21 team that won both the SEC regular season and tournament championships, including winning the 2021 SEC Tournament MVP.
He then moved from a sixth man to a starter on last year's team, an underachieving team that lost in the first round of the NCAA Tournament as a 6-seed. Many expected Quinerly to leave to pursue professional options for his career, but after a torn ACL ended his season just minutes after tipoff in the NCAA Tournament, he decided to come back.
Quinerly's 2022-23 campaign has paralleled the highs and lows he's seen as a member of the Crimson Tide basketball program. It took some time to get his feet under him after a miraculously quick recovery from his injury, which led to intense amounts of criticism from fans who questioned not only his playing time, but his place on the team as a whole.
"Things haven't gone the way we all would have hoped it would have gone for the whole year," Oats said. "People forget he's coming back from an ACL tear and he came back faster than anybody ever imagined. He played a lot of games early when he really wasn't 100 percent. He's 100 percent now and I'm proud of the way he's been playing."
Quinerly's play was elevated to a level unseen since before his injury in Saturday's win over Arkansas, and many wondered whether that would continue into the illustrious month of March or if his spark would fade.
The answer to that question was resounding.
Against Auburn, with a championship on the line, in the final home game of the year, Quinerly was masterful. He scored 24 points to lead the Crimson Tide, and added six assists and zero turnovers.
"I can't be more proud of JQ," Oats said. "I told him and I told the team 'We're getting the March version of JQ'. He's definitely the X-factor and has played great for us, especially in the second half the past two games."
Brandon Miller, Alabama's typical leading scorer, was extremely inefficient on the night making just three of his 12 shots from the field. Quinerly provided much more consistency scoring from the floor, shooting 7-for-12.
Once again, Alabama's offense struggled in the first half against a stout defense, and once again Oats inserted Quinerly into the starting lineup in the second half to provide a spark, and it worked.
Quinerly dazzled with an array of creative finishes around the rim, getting downhill with blazing speed and manipulating the ball with his dribble moves as if it had strings attached to it.
Even a midgame scuffle between Quinerly and a few Auburn players that resulted in a double-technical foul and multiple ejections didn't deter him from leading the Crimson Tide's comeback.
His explosiveness, energy, and sheer will propelled Alabama back from down 17 points in the second half, led it to overtime and eventually one of the sweetest wins in his Alabama career.
"I think he's learned how to be a winner," Oats said. "He's gotten better as a player, he's gotten better as a leader. [...] I love all our players, but I love JQ. He's taken a lot of criticism, unwarranted at that, but he's here. It's March, and we've got the March version of JQ."
Oats said after the game, Quinerly gave him a hug and told him, "We got a second one," referring to another championship the two have won together. This season, they still have the chance to add to that total.
There's a lot that still awaits the Crimson Tide as the regular season dies down, with the SEC Tournament and the potential for the first No. 1 seed in school history on the horizon. But regardless of how this season ends, Quinerly ensured one thing:
He wrote his name in crimson flame.