Alabama Basketball Practice Report Ahead of BYU Game

Notes, observations and practice footage from the Crimson Tide ahead of its NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 matchup against the Cougars in Newark, N.J.

Alabama Basketball Practice Before BYU | Hunter De Siver

NEWARK, N.J. –– 2-seed Alabama men's basketball is set to face 6-seed BYU in the Sweet 16 of the 2025 NCAA Tournament on Thursday in Newark, N.J.

The Crimson Tide arrived in Newark on Monday and the media got a brief viewing period during Wednesday's practice.

Practice notes and observations:

Alabama guard Aden Holloway and the forwards were on one side of the floor while forward Grant Nelson and center Clifford Omoruyi were on the other side with the guards.
During the brief practice viewing period in Cleveland prior to Alabama's first NCAA Tournament matchup against Robert Morris, forward/big man Aiden Sherrell was often shooting threes from all angles. However, on Wednesday, he was setting screens and either driving to the hole or dishing it out to the corner.
Holloway was at the point for these drills with Sherrell and the forwards. In addition to passing it to Sherrell on the pick-and-roll or to Jarin Stevenson and Mouhamed Dioubate in the corners, he took a couple of sidesteps for some outside shots.
Stevenson had a couple of plays in the post with Sherrell under the basket to follow the shot.
Guards Mark Sears, Chris Youngblood and Labaron Philon were practicing an action involving ball movement around the three-point line in which Philon takes the shot.
Similar to Holloway and Sherrell, Youngblood and Omoruyi did a pick-and-roll drill.
Nelson, who was wearing a brace but will be good to go against BYU per head coach Nate Oats, was involved in numerous drills, including one where Sears give him an alley-oop––which has been a trending form of scoring for the Crimson Tide lately.
Alabama assistant Ryan Pannone was directing the offense throughout these drills
Oats and assistant Preston Murphy resided around the halfcourt line.