Crimson Tide look to repeat as SEC champions

While Alabama must replace the Southeastern Conference player of the year and an NBA draft lottery pick from its best team in decades, coach Nate Oats is hardly starting from scratch.

Oats still enters his third season in Tuscaloosa with the preseason No. 14 team thanks to the return of leading scorers Jaden Shackelford and Jahvon Quinerly.

The Crimson Tied also have an influx of new players expected to make an immediate impact. That new group includes five-star point guard signee JD Davidson and Furman transfer forward Noah Gurley.

So the 3-pointers should keep flying with abandon even minus Herb Jones, one-and-done player Josh Primo, sharp shooter John Petty and forwards Jordan Bruner and Alex Reese. The Tide won their first SEC regular season title since 2002 and first tournament championship in 30 years on their way to a 26-7 season and the NCAA Tournament’s Sweet Sixteen.

Alabama finished the season ranked fifth.

“I think the mindset of the team is in a good spot,” said Oats, who signed a new deal through the 2026-27 season. “They know we’ve got a target on our back. They also know we’ve graduated four seniors and then Primo, who was a lottery pick.”

The cupboard is anything but bare, though last season will be hard to top. And the nonconference schedule is especially challenging. But the team is picked to finish second in the SEC.

Davidson gives Alabama three Mcdonald’s All-americans on the roster. The two-time Alabama Mr. Basketball at Calhoun High School in Letohatchee, Alabama, averaged 32.4 points, 10.9 rebounds and 4.7 assists last season.

Davidson is one of the highest rated recruits to sign with the Tide.

The 6-foot-8, 210-pound Gurley started 83 games in three seasons at Furman and averaged 15.4 points and 5.8 rebounds last season.

Texas Tech transfer guard Nimari Burnett, one of those Mcdonald’s All-americans along with Quinerly, will miss the season after right knee surgery.

Oats thinks guard Keon Ellis could be “the best two-way player in this league” after starting the last five games.

Arkansas

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — In his third season at Arkansas, Eric Musselman has restored the roar to a once-elite men’s basketball program.

The Razorbacks raced through the Southeastern Conference late last season, then made the kind of run they were known for in the glory days under Nolan Richardson. Arkansas won nine of its last 10 games before the NCAA Tournament, then advanced to the Elite Eight before falling to eventual national champion Baylor, 81-72.

The Razorbacks enter this season ranked 16th, their first preseason ranking since 2007. It’s also the program’s highest preseason ranking since the 2000 season, toward the end of Richardson’s 17-year tenure highlighted by a 1994 NCAA championship.

Musselman has the ranking in perspective.

“Obviously, you want your team and your players to be recognized,” said Musselman. “It really doesn’t matter. Last year at this time we didn’t have a lot of respect and we came on strong at the end. We’ve got to evolve in a lot of areas. We’ve got a lot of good pieces, but we have to figure out a way for the guys to mesh.”

Leading scorers Moses Moody and Justin Smith are gone, but J.D. Notae returns to lead the way. The 6-foot-2 senior guard averaged 12.7 points per game last year. In the team’s Red-white game this week, he had 22 points and six assists while leading his team to a win.

“I think all the SEC coaches, all the SEC returning players — everybody understands JD is as good a 1-on-1 player and as good at getting his own shot as anyone in the country,” Musselman said.

Musselman also praised Notae’s offseason commitment.

“He’s transformed his body better than anybody since I’ve been at Arkansas,” Musselman said. “I don’t know that I’ve ever been around a player who gets in his lifts like JD. He’s really focused to have a great year. He needs to lead us in a lot of different ways.”

The Razorbacks open the regular season at home Nov. 9 against Mercer.

Auburn

Bruce Pearl has restocked Auburn’s roster once again, only this time with expectations for immediate success.

The preseason No. 22 Tigers’ coach bolstered his team with talented transfers like North Carolina 7-footer Walker Kessler, Georgia guard K.D. Johnson and five-star recruit Jabari Smith after a down year that followed the program’s best three-year run in history.

For the second straight year, Auburn could have a new starting five but it will feature some transfers with college experience — and plenty of talent.

“We won’t be as young, but we will clearly be as new,” Pearl said. “What does that mean? We’re not going to be as good early as we will be later. We’re just going to be a team that gets better throughout the season.”

He also knows this team has the talent for a high ceiling, three years after the program made its first Final Four trip. That’s despite losing one-and-done players Sharife Cooper and JT Thor, both second-round NBA draft picks.

The Tigers went 13-14 last season and 7-11 in SEC games, but they had already self-imposed a postseason ban anyway following a bribery scheme involving former assistant coach Chuck

Person

The NCAA Tournament is a much more realistic prospect this season.

The four transfers will add to a roster that includes Pearl’s prized recruit, the 6-foot-10 forward Smith, a consensus top-5 prospect according to the recruiting services and the program’s top-rated signee. Smith averaged 24.5 points, 10.8 rebounds and 2.8 blocks per game at Sandy Creek High School in Tyrone, Georgia.

“You’re just going to see me playing hard, playing my game,” Smith said. “Really just trying to prove to everybody that I am what they think I am. You can’t really think about points and things like that, you just have to go out there and play hard, play unselfish. Just play the game the right way.”

Eastern Kentucky transfer Wendell Green Jr. is expected to take over at point guard, along with College of Charleston’s Zep Jasper.

Those two and Johnson, a four-star recruit a year ago, all averaged more than 13 points last season for other teams.

Guard Allen Flanigan is the top returning scorer but is out until at least mid-december recovering from Achilles surgery. Other returnees include guard Devan Cambridge (8.9 points per game) and forward Jaylin Williams (10.9 ppg).

The 7-foot-1 Kessler was a five-star prospect who played a reserve role for the Tar Heels but improved his production late in the season.

If Auburn is to make a postseason run, it will need improved defense. The Tigers allowed 76.4 points a game last season, which ranked 301st nationally.

Ole Miss

Ole Miss coach Kermit Davis is hoping a different style leads to more points, more possessions and more wins.

The Rebels relied heavily on defense last season with one of the Southeastern Conference’s stingiest and lowest scoring teams. The formula was only good enough for a 16-12 record and NIT berth.

Ole Miss is now led by No. 2 scorer Jarkel Joiner and seven newcomers, including the program’s first Mcdonald’s Allamerican, guard Daeshun Ruffin and three Power 5 transfers.

Davis wants that influx of talent to translate into more points for a team that ranked 237th nationally in scoring, averaging just 68.8 points per game. The Rebels are hoping to win with more than defense and rebounding.

“We need to have more possessions,” Davis said. “I think our team is much faster in transition as a whole. We shoot it better.

“The biggest thing is we want to play it fast, smart, and unselfish. If any of you can do those three things with great toughness, now you have a great product and people want to come watch that.”

The Rebels must replace leading scorer Devontae Shuler and forwards K.J. Buffen and Romello White.

But they added former fivestar recruit Jaemyn Brakefield from Duke, guard Tye Fagan from Georgia and center Nysier Brooks, who led Miami in blocked shots and rebounds last season.

Leading rebounder Luis Rodriguez is also back after averaging 7.6 points and 6.3 rebounds.

Texas A&M

COLLEGE STATION, Texas — Buzz Williams is entering his third season at Texas A&M.

But after a 2020-21 that was all but lost to the pandemic, the veteran coach feels like it’s Year 1 with the Aggies.

“Just been so much that’s transpired,” Williams said. “Some of it good, but a lot of it bad. And some of the bad was out of our control. And so, I do feel like it’s just a reset. I understand I won’t be judged according to the reset and I’m accountable to that, but yeah, I feel the energy of what we’re doing is Year 1-esque.”

Williams was expected to help the Aggies reach the next level when he was hired after guiding Virginia Tech to three straight NCAA tournaments, capped by a trip to the Sweet 16 in 2019. The Aggies went 16-14 in his first season before things fell apart last season.

The Aggies finished 8-10 and 2-8 in Southeastern Conference play last year in a season with multiple stops and starts because of the coronavirus. They were shut down from Jan. 30 until March 3 and lost consecutive games to Mississippi State and Arkansas to close out the regular season before falling to Vanderbilt in the first round of the conference tournament to end their season.

Then came an offseason where almost all the top players transferred, leaving Williams and his staff to basically start from scratch. Despite the excessive turnover, Williams remains as optimistic as ever as he works to get the program back on track.

“There is pureness in the energy,” Williams said. “Everything is kind of new as far as what we’re teaching. What they’re doing is new every day. Has that spirit of newness, which has been fun and good.”

Gone is Emanuel Miller, who led the team by scoring 16.2 points per game last season. Jay Jay Chandler and Savion Flagg, who combined to add 17, also opted to transfer, as did Jaxson Robinson, who was a heralded high school recruit last offseason.

Texas A&M’S top returning players are Andre Gordon, Hassan Diarra and Hayden Hefner. Gordon started every game last season and averaged 8.3 points, 2.4 rebound and 2.7 assists, but the other two players were used mostly as reserves.

Williams will look to these three players to take a step forward this season and will need top recruits Manny Obaseki and Wade Taylor to come in and contribute immediately.