Alabama is betting that size will change the story in Tuscaloosa next season.
After the Crimson Tide’s run ended against Michigan in the Sweet 16 of the 2025-26 NCAA Tournament, Nate Oats made the diagnosis plain: the roster had to get bigger. Alabama listened. This offseason, nine newcomers arrived, and 12 of the 15 players on the roster stand at least 6-foot-6.
That shift wasn’t made for aesthetics. It was made to address the games that got away.
“You look at some of the losses we had, a lot of those...we just kind of got manhandled on glass,” Oats said at SEC Tipoff '27 on Tuesday. “So, the big point of emphasis for us in the offseason was getting significantly bigger, not just taller, kind of at the two, three and four.
“Like you saw (Drew) Fielder and (Brandon) Garrison both here, those guys are capable of playing the four. We've got Jamarion Davis-Fleming in, who is capable of playing four and five both.
We got definitely bigger, kind of the two, three and four spots. We had pretty good size at the five, but our backup fives sometimes weren't that big.
We're bigger. Hopefully, it helps fix the rebounding issues.
Fix some of the defensive issues we've had.”
That’s the new blueprint for Alabama: still fast, still dangerous, but no longer so easy to shove around.
The Crimson Tide has spent the last three seasons as the nation’s highest-scoring team, with its attack fueled by guards like Mark Sears, Labaron Philon Jr., Latrell Wrightsell Jr., Aden Holloway and Chris Youngblood. That firepower has carried Alabama to the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament in each of those years, and it powered the program to its first Final Four in 2023-24.
But each spring has also brought the same problem into sharper focus. When the games turned into a battle of bodies, Alabama often came up short.
Transfer forward Drew Fielder sees the reshaped roster as a chance to be harder to handle without giving up the flexibility that has defined Oats’ teams.
“Last year, Alabama was playing four guards,” Fielder said on Tuesday. “If you see a lot of the teams last year who had a lot of success, they sometimes played three bigs.
I appreciate having the flexibility of the lineups to do multiple things. Yeah, you want to get size, but you also want to get versatility and all of our bigs are super versatile.
“I appreciate being able to do different things, play different roles and fill in wherever our team needs. But like I said, the way we play, you have to be flexible, you have to be connected. It's a lot of fun.”
Even with the added bulk, Alabama isn’t turning into a plodding, all-paint roster. The Tide brought in four freshman wings, and each one brings a different element to the mix. Cole Cloer is the perimeter shooter in that group, while Tarris Bouie, Jaxon Richardson and Qayden Samuels are more downhill threats who can attack the rim.
For Fielder, that combination matters because it gives Alabama more ways to stress a defense.
“It just gives you options,” Fielder said. “We always talk about spacing for shooters, but vertical spacing is also a really big thing, especially in the NBA.
So I really appreciate being able to kick out to the corner but also drive in and go to the rim. It allows you to force the defense into a tough position.
So it's been really fun.”
Alabama still plans to play with pace and pressure. The difference now is the Crimson Tide believes it can do it with more size, more flexibility and a roster built to hold up when the brackets tighten.
In Other News...
SEC Response To Alabamas Georgia Frustration Wont Ease Many Fans
The aftermath of Alabamas game with Georgia has turned less on the final outcome than on the officiating decisions that left plenty of Crimson Tide fans frustrated. Several calls were disputed during the game, including a no-call on a potential pass interference, and the conversation spilled into the public view as SEC commissioner Greg Sankey addressed how the league handles those kinds of controversies.
Sankey said the conference does not comment on judgment calls made by officials, while also stressing that officiating is difficult and that the SEC will review errors involving rule application. For Alabama fans still looking for clarity, though, that distinction is unlikely to calm much of the noise around a game that already had enough contentious moments to linger well beyond the final whistle. [Read more 🡒]
National Analyst Reignites Georgia Alabama Officiating Debate After Bulldogs Win
Joel Klatt has stirred the pot again in the aftermath of Georgias win over Alabama, using his podcast to revisit the kind of officiating debate that tends to linger long after the final whistle. The national analyst pointed to a non-called pass interference in the fourth quarter as the clearest example of what he felt went Georgias way, framing it as a moment that may have helped shape how the game played out.
For Alabama fans, the frustration is obvious because the loss already carried plenty of weight in a marquee matchup. Klatt did not go so far as to suggest the Crimson Tide were out of the national picture, though, making clear he still views Alabama as a legitimate College Football Playoff championship contender despite the controversy that followed the game. [Read more 🡒]
Nate Oats Signals Progress As Alabama Waits On Aden Holloway
Aden Holloways return to Alabama basketball is still on hold, but the situation around his suspension has moved in a more encouraging direction. Holloway is serving a five-game absence tied to a spring arrest on marijuana charges, a stretch that includes three exhibition games and two regular-season games, even though those charges were dismissed after he completed the Second Chance Program. He has already been reinstated to the roster, which at least gives Alabama a clearer path forward as it waits for the final green light.
Nate Oats and athletics director Greg Byrne have both spoken publicly about Holloways progress, a sign the program is tracking the situation closely rather than treating it as a distant off-field issue. For Alabama, the delay matters because Holloway is not just back in the system, he is still not allowed to play, leaving the Tide to manage the early schedule without him while the last step in the process plays out. [Read more 🡒]