Returning Alabama Players Have 'Unfinished Business' After Seasons Ends in Final Four

The 2024 squad took the program to new heights with a Final Four berth, but now it leaves the Crimson Tide hungry for more moving forward.

GLENDALE, Ariz. — In this age of college basketball, no matter where or how the season ends, one of the biggest questions is, "Who is coming back?" And it was no different in the aftermath of Alabama's Final Four loss to UConn in Arizona on Saturday night.

Last offseason, Nate Oats had to deal with massive roster turnover. Part of what made the Crimson Tide's Final Four run so impressive was the fact that Alabama only returned three players from last year's No. 1 team.

Outside of fifth-year guard Aaron Estrada, every other current player on the Alabama roster has the opportunity to return for at least one more season. However, most in the locker room were non-committal about thier futures with the program– whether that means entering the tranfer portal or exploring professional options in the NBA and abroad.

There were at least two Crimson Tide players that seemed pretty certain about returning next season and building on what the program was able to accomplish this season: Rylan Griffen and Jarin Stevenson.

After reclassifying and enrolling early, Stevenson is ready to step into a bigger role as he enters his sophomore season. He plans to put in a lot of work over the summer to improve his game.

"Making it this far means a lot," Stevenson said in the locker room after the game. "I feel like we have unfinished business. Hopefully next year we can make a big run and make it further than we did this year… We’re hungry."

In his two seasons with the Crimson Tide, Griffen has been part of the 2023 SEC championship team and the 2024 Final Four team. One of his goals coming into college was making history, and he has done that, but he still wants to win a national championship.

"’I'm going to be mad if I don’t get back to the Final Four at least because I know what’s going on at the Final Four now," Griffen said. "I know other teams are getting that, and I want to be on one of those teams. I gotta do what I gotta do to get to the Final Four again.”

Oats has taken Alabama places it has never been before and put the program back on the college basketball map. Last season was the first ever No. 1 overall seed for Alabama, and this season was the first Final Four team. He's coached SEC Players of the Year and multiple first-round draft picks.

There is no question that making the Final Four was a breakthrough moment for a program that was historically one of the most successful in the SEC, but was just missing that major accomplish. Oats doesn't want the Final Four to be the ceiling though.

"While it was great and I want to thank them [the fans] and thank our players for getting us here, we're not finished," Oats said. "We'd like to get back here and win this whole thing. I think that's what our goal's going to be. We're going to aim to get back here, aim to get back here and win the final game.”