Alabama basketball hasn’t exactly had a dull offseason.
The Crimson Tide’s nonconference scheduling announcements alone have been noteworthy. Alabama will face marquee programs like Illinois (at United Center in Chicago), St. John’s at Madison Square Garden, Gonzaga and UNLV at the Players Era Festival in Las Vegas, and Arizona in Birmingham.
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They’ll face Clemson in the 2025 ACC-SEC Challenge and potentially host the nation’s No. 1 ranked team when the Purdue Boilermakers visit Coleman Coliseum on Nov. 13.
On the roster front, coach Nate Oats got a boost when Labaron Philon chose to return to college for his sophomore season rather than hope for a potential second-round NBA draft selection. Philon’s return is particularly welcome news since Alabama lost top scorer Mark Sears to graduation.
Philon and Aden Holloway will be in the backcourt in both players’ second seasons in Tuscaloosa. Former 5-star recruit and Miami Hurricanes guard Jalil Bethea joined Alabama via the transfer portal, and a healthy Latrell Wrightsell Jr. should also be back for 2025-26 after suffering a season-ending injury at the end of November.
Alabama also lost top rebounder Grant Nelson and big man Clifford Omoruyi, so two more transfer portal acquisitions in Taylor Bol Bowen (from Florida State) and Noah Williamson (from Bucknell) will look to shore things up in the frontcourt.
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On Tuesday, USA TODAY Sports’ four-person expert panel of Paul Myerberg, Jordan Mendoza, Eddie Timanus, and Erick Smith unveiled their updated early Top 25 rankings on where things stand following the NBA draft and the closing of the transfer portal. Alabama cracked the top 10 at No. 8.
While that’s down two spots from their previous ranking, the panel hadn’t updated their early Top 25 since the day after the Florida Gators defeated Houston for the national championship three months ago.
By comparison, Alabama had fallen out of the top 15 in other way-too-early Top 25 rankings, including at ESPN where they’d dipped to No. 24 prior to Philon’s decision to withdraw from the draft.
Alabama was ranked one spot below BYU in USA TODAY Sports’ updated rankings Tuesday, and one spot ahead of Rick Pitino’s St. John’s. The Crimson Tide will take on the Johnnies on Nov. 8 at Madison Square Garden.
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This article originally appeared on Roll Tide Wire: Alabama basketball in top 10 of USA TODAY Sports early top 25 rankings
