Alabama Basketball Set to Face Familiar Name in UNLV Forward

UPDATE: UNLV forward Naas Cunningham will not be facing his former team tonight, as he was a late scratch with an ankle injury and didn't participate in warmups.

After becoming the only school in the country to advance to back-to-back NCAA Tournament Elite Eights, Alabama men's basketball lost four players to the transfer portal.

One outgoing transfer was forward Naas Cunningham, who head coach Nate Oats decided to redshirt as a freshman last season. Oats said before the 2024 season that "He's got super high upside, but he's got to get stronger so he can play a more physical style for us."

Cunningham transferred to UNLV in April. Alabama will face Cunningham and the Rebels in the Players Era Festival in Las Vegas at 11 p.m. CT. Oats spoke about what he's seen from his former player during Sunday's press conference.

"I think he's gotten physically stronger. I mean, shoot, when he redshirted with us, he'd go get a bucket. I mean, he could really score it. I think he had a game where he had 25 points the other week for them. So I think he's gotten the chance to showcase what he's capable of doing, which is great for him. That's why he decided to transfer there, and he's taking advantage of it."

Cunningham is listed as a forward, but Oats often considered him a guard. In 2022, he was rated the No. 1 overall recruit in ESPN's class of 2024, but he couldn't obtain that status by the time he committed. Nonetheless, he still finished at a respectable No. 62 ranking when he committed to Alabama.

The aforementioned quote came the day before No. 8 Alabama's loss to No. 12 Gonzaga in the Crimson Tide's first game of the Players Era Festival. Oats explained that he showed his team "a little bit of UNLV," since they couldn't practice on Monday and Tuesday. He mentioned that the Rebels "do a little bit more on our offensive side," as they average 93.2 points per game compared to Alabama's 89.8.

Cunningham has been a key reason for UNLV's offensive success, as he's averaging 10.4 points in 20.2 minutes per game off the bench through the Rebels' first five contests. Oats assured that there is admiration for Cunningham from both him and Alabama's players.

"We saw Naas in their little zone that they run and some guys were hooting and hollering for Naas making some plays on defense," Oats said. "He's a great kid. Everybody here loves him, and I hope he does really well. I just hope he doesn't do that well against us on Tuesday (Oats smiles)."

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