Jalil Bethea Finding Offensive Rhythm for Alabama Basketball

TUSCALOOSA, Ala.— There are many men's college basketball coaches and programs that would be envious of the backcourt depth possessed by Alabama. That arsenal of players only grew stronger this past offseason with the addition of transfer guard Jalil Bethea from Miami (Fla.).

Bethea missed all of November recovering from offseason foot surgery and played his first extended minutes for the No. 14 Crimson Tide (10-3) on Dec. 7 against UTSA, scoring 21 points with five made three-point baskets. On Monday, in a 102-78 win over Yale, Bethea put up 15 points and had a 4-of-7 night from the field. He supplemented his performance with three rebounds, two assists and a 4-for-4 showing on free throws. It was his second straight game in double figures.

"Very talented scorer. Obviously, he scored it at a high level in high school," head coach Nate Oats said postgame. "15 points in 20 minutes is pretty efficient. 15 points on only seven shots. We know he can score it, which is good. He's getting into the rhythm offensively."

Bethea is averaging 9.7 points per game through six games. During contests in which he plays more than 10 minutes, that average bumps up to 13 points. The sophomore has also shown an ability to rebound the basketball, collecting three or more boards in each of his past three outings and recording six of them in the UTSA game.

"We gotta get him to be better for us on the defensive end, like a lot of our guys, to be honest with you," Oats said. "He's starting to get his rhythm back, play with some freedom, make better decisions on offense. He's starting to do that. Learning to trust him a little bit more on the offensive end."

In 16 starts for the Hurricanes as a freshman last season, Bethea averaged 7.1 points, 2.1 rebounds and 1.2 assists. Across a smaller sample size, he's marginally above his Miami per-game average in assists (1.5) but has hauled in an average of 3.2 rebounds per game so far at Alabama. Monday's matchup against Yale represented the second-most points he's scored in a game this year.

Now that he's back and playing with a steady uptick in minutes (he had 14 on Dec. 17, 18 on Dec. 21 and 20 on Monday), Bethea can put more of what he has to offer on display against SEC opponents, starting with Kentucky at home on Saturday. Early returns have shown the skills that made him a portal target for the Crimson Tide, even with its many options at the guard spots. Bethea has hit on 10 of his 22 three-point attempts thus far and shot 89 percent from the charity stripe.

Alabama was missing point guard Labaron Philon (left leg contusion) and freshman guard Davion Hannah (who has a medical condition) against the Bulldogs. Along with Bethea, Aden Holloway and Latrell Wrightsell Jr. have also missed multiple games this year due to injury; now healthy, they joined Bethea in double figures Monday. When all of its pieces are available, the Crimson Tide's guard rotation can be among the most potent in the country.

"We all good players," Bethea said after the Yale win. "So, it doesn't really matter if we all on the same court at the same time. But, just know, when we are on the same court, it's gonna be something, like, even more problems."

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