Jalil Bethea's Positive Attitude Has Him Prepared For March Madness

TAMPA, Fla. -- Alabama basketball opens a new chapter this weekend as the 2026 NCAA Tournament gets underway. The Crimson Tide has dealt with numerous forms of adversity throughout the year, making the journey to Tampa's first round game against Hofstra particularly impressive. Alabama has seen a majority of the roster deal with injury in some form or fashion this season and has dealt with two legal situations, leaving the program shorthanded as they enter the postseason.

Despite the hiccups and hurdles the season has brought, Alabama enters Friday's first round game as a double-digit favorite. Sophomore transfer Jalil Bethea is familiar with the hurdles, as the Miami product broke a toe in the preseason and missed the beginning of the year, causing the highly-touted scorer to fall behind and find himself fighting for minutes in a crowded backcourt.

Bethea's played in 23 games, averaging 4.4 points in 8.5 minutes per game, a significant cut to the playing time he saw as a freshman with the Miami Hurricanes. Despite the adversity, Bethea's been continuously complimented for maintaining a positive attitude and improving behind the scenes.

"Really just coming to practice every day," Bethea said on his positive attitude. "Really just going hard, really just being there for the team no matter what's going on, because we're winning, so I really can't say anything. I'm just trying to have that team effort."

Bethea was considered a 5-star prospect out of high school, but missing time in the offseason hampered his ability to assimilate into the Alabama program on both ends of the floor.

"With the way we play, it's a lot different than the way most college teams play at least," Nate Oats said. "There's a lot to be learned in the off-season with playing fast, making the right reads, and the paint reads, the rim reads, pick-and-roll reads, close-out reads, all of it that he missed. And he was frustrated as a talented kid like him would naturally be, that he wasn't able to contribute as much as everybody would have liked for him to initially."

Bethea buckled down and learned the offense, but says the defensive side of the ball is what he's most proud of.

"My defense has been picked up," Bethea said. "Ever since high school, I didn't really play that much defense. I didn't really have to, then going into college is when you really have to play defense. I would say that's probably the area I've worked on the most."

Bethea will be under the microscope on Friday as the sophomore guard will likely be asked to fill a majority of Aden Holloway's vacated minutes. He'll need to protect the basketball and run the offense while defending a talented duo of Hofstra guards on the defensive end.

"He's been extremely good," Alabama forward Jacob Martin said. "He had a rough stretch at the beginning of SEC play as we started going. He's had the greatest attitude ever. I think Houston's [Mallette] rubbed off on him a little bit. The two of them have had a pretty good relationship since the beginning. But Jalil's been coming up since the beginning of SEC play. I'm happy for him right now, he's been doing really great."

Mallette is no stranger to adversity and things not going to plan as the Crimson Tide graduate missed the majority of last season with lower body injuries. The veteran bounced back this season and is the only scholarship player to not miss a single contest, giving him a unique perspective on positivity in the face of problems.

"I just think the way he's [Bethea] handled adversity, and I think the way the team handles adversity," Mallette said. "I think we've handled adversity really well this year. We've obviously had 12 or 13 different starting lineups, guys have been out. I think I might be the only guy who hasn't missed a game, but Jalil, you should see the way he practices. He practices great, like with full effort, with intensity. He's super skilled, he's super talented. He's great, and his attitude is phenomenal. I give a lot of props to him because I know some people wouldn't have handled how things have gone for him the way he's been able to handle it. He's done a phenomenal job at that. He's primed for a huge, huge, huge March. I'm excited for him. We've got a word "Mudita" - shoutout to coach Patrick Murphy from softball, he came and spoke to our team a bit - and it's just having vicarious joy for others as if it's your success. Jalil has that, and I believe what you give is what you're going to get back. I have vicarious joy for him. He's primed for a huge, huge March."

The Miami Hurricanes didn't qualify for the NCAA Tournament last season, making the upcoming game Bethea's first opportunity on this stage. He's played 20 or more minutes in four games this year, with the last occurrence coming against Mississippi State last month when Labaron Philon missed the game. Holloway's likely absence presents an opportunity for Bethea to put adversity in the rear view mirror and play extensive minutes for the Crimson Tide.

"I think he's done an unbelievable job keeping his attitude right where it needs to be," Oats said. "I love him. He comes in, plays hard, great teammate. I really hope he goes in and plays well -- playing well doesn't necessarily mean just making shots, making highlight plays, which he's more than capable of, but it's being locked into the defensive end, impacting winning. That's the one thing you've got to keep emphasizing to these guys that come either out of high school or maybe places they haven't won at the level we've won is what can you do to impact winning. It's not all scoring. It's why we chart as many things as we chart. I think he's starting to figure that out. I would love for him to take advantage of this opportunity he's got in front of him and really play well here this weekend."

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