'We'll be Back': Alabama Basketball Optimistic for Future

NEWARK, N.J.–– With the current state of college basketball and teams having millions of dollars to spend in the transfer portal, it is never safe to assume that a player will return to their current college basketball team.

Alabama's roster this season consisted of four new transfers and featured seven total players that didn't begin their college careers with the Crimson Tide.

After Alabama's season ended with a loss to Duke in the Elite Eight on Saturday night in Newark, a couple Crimson Tide players shared their future plans with the program, including Auburn transfer Aden Holloway.

"I don't regret my decision at all," Holloway said. "I love the University of Alabama. And we'll be back next year for sure... I don't really know who's coming next year. I was trying to focus on trying to get a championship this year. Came up short, but we're going to take a look into it over the next couple days, over the summer to build a roster that can come back next year and come back even harder."

Houston Mallette had to miss most of the season with an injury and ended up redshirting. Mallette transferred in from Pepperdine last offseason and reaffirmed his decision to join the Crimson Tide. He is excited about being back on the court next season, especially with some of the pieces that will be coming back.

"Coming into next year, we understand what the standard is," Mallette said. "You have guys like Trelly [Latrell Wrightsell Jr.] in his sixth year of college, me in my fifth year, Biz [Aden Holloway] who's an older guy, Jarin Steveson, Aiden Sherrell, potentially whoever comes back. We have guys who have been a part of this and have felt this hurt right now.

"So of course there's internal motivation. We have a lot of things we need to get better at, and we're just excited to come back."

Regardless of portal or NBA draft decisions, four Alabama players are officially out of college eligibility: Grant Nelson, Chris Youngblood, Mark Sears and Clifford Omoruyi.

Nate Oats has gotten Alabama to back-to-back Elite Eights, and took the program to its first Final Four last season. Winning a national title is the next step and big hurdle to overcome. Oats and his staff have continued to recruit at a high level for high school kids and out of the transfer portal.

Even though he will not longer be a part of it, Youngblood sees that as a possibility for the Tide under Oats.

"The expectation is a championship now–– national championship," Youngblood said. "Now we've lost in the Elite Eight and know what we need to fix and how to go about that. I have high expectations for them next year."

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