The Former Alabama Basketball Player Amari Allen Reminds Nate Oats Of

The Crimson Tide freshman scored 25 points and grabbed 11 rebounds against Vanderbilt on Wednesday.

Alabama forward Amari Allen travels up the court in the second half of the game against Clemson on Dec. 3, 2025. | Sarah Munzenmaier/Alabama Crimson Tide on SI

TUSCALOOSA, Ala.— Alabama basketball freshman Amari Allen's 25-point, 11-rebound double-double in Wednesday night's 96-90 loss at Vanderbilt further put on display for head coach Nate Oats that Allen's in-game focus is on the right things. He was the Crimson Tide's high scorer in the game and is up to three double-double performances on the season.

"The best thing Amari Allen has going for himself is, all he cares about is winning. That's it," Oats said Friday afternoon ahead of the No. 13 Crimson Tide's game against Texas (Saturday at 7 p.m. CT). "Whatever he needs to do for the team to win, that's really all he cares about. When you get guys like that, cause they don't come around that often, you enjoy the time you've got them."

After the game against the Commodores, Oats went back and looked at the stats of one former player Allen reminds him of, a current NBA player who helped shape the Crimson Tide men's basketball program into what it has become under Oats, who noted that he'd go to war with someone like Allen any day of the week.

"He's reminiscent of Herb Jones. Whatever it takes to win," Oats said. "He was concerned about winning. I think Amari's got the same deal. He's concerned about winning, that's it. If he needs to score 25, if he needs to get 11 rebounds, if he needs to stop the other team's best player, he's gonna do what it takes to win."

Jones, who is now on the New Orleans Pelicans, was the SEC Player of the Year in 2020-21. Alabama won the conference regular season and tournament titles, going on to reach its first Sweet 16 since 2004 in March of 2021. Being compared to Jones, considered to be one of the leading examples (if not the preeminent example) of Oats' blue-collar brand during his time at Alabama, is a good sign for Allen, whom Oats described Friday as a future NBA player. Allen even volunteered to guard Tyler Tanner, Vanderbilt's leading scorer in Wednesday's contest.

"You plug him in everywhere you can. He's essentially starting at the four [power forward] for us right now. He can be a point guard. He rebounds it better than anybody on the team cause that's what we need to do to win," Oats said. "So, he attacks the rim better than anybody on the team right now, he gets downhill in transition... He's more than capable of making threes at a high clip. He's a competitor."