Alabama’s weekly honors list had a little bit of everything this time around: a freshman bursting onto the scene, a sophomore making program history, and a defensive lineman delivering in the biggest moments of a win over LSU.
Amari Allen was the headliner on the basketball side after putting together the fifth triple-double in Alabama basketball history in Friday night’s win over Arkansas State. He finished with 16 points, 13 rebounds and 11 assists, and head coach Nate Oats made it clear how rare that kind of night is.
"You think of all the NBA players to come out of Alabama throughout the years, to only be the fourth player in program history to have a triple-double, you’ve put yourself in pretty elite company. And he did it with only eight shots," Oats said.
"He really led the charge in getting the ball moving. We emphasize ball movement, and we end up with 19 assists, and he had 11 of them.
I thought, as a leader of the team, he did a good job getting the ball moving."
Allen’s early run at guard has already looked promising, and the way he’s being used gives Alabama plenty of room to grow offensively as the season goes on.
Freshman Bouie also wasted no time making an impression. ESPN’s No. 34 player in the class opened his Alabama career with 13 points against Sam Houston and followed that with 12 against Arkansas State.
His debut against Sam Houston showed the full range of what he can bring, as he added seven rebounds, three assists and three stocks to go with the scoring. The freshman looks capable of handling a little bit of everything - driving, shooting, creating for others, jumping passing lanes and finishing above the rim as one of the team’s best leapers.
On the football side, Devan Thompkins earned Co-Defensive Lineman of the Week after a game-changing performance in Alabama’s 31-13 win over LSU. Thompkins came through twice in key spots.
He recorded a sack of LSU quarterback Sam Leavitt in the final minute of the first half, a play that pushed the Tigers out of field goal range. Leavitt then threw an interception moments later on a snap where Thompkins again helped create pressure.
Thompkins wasn’t done there. In the fourth quarter, he delivered the finishing blow with a sack of Leavitt on fourth down deep in LSU territory, helping set up Alabama’s offense to extend the lead to three scores. It was a welcome return to form for the USC transfer, who had gone the previous five games without a sack.
Mallette also had a strong professional debut for the Windy City Bulls. He scored 26 points and hit all six of his three-point attempts in the G-League club’s 127-102 win over the Noblesville Boom, the Indiana Pacers affiliate. While he isn’t expected to see NBA action this season, a night like that will keep his stock moving in the right direction and points toward a long career overseas if that path is the one ahead.
In Other News...
Alabama Is Using Last Year's Vanderbilt Humbling For A Reason
Last years trip to Nashville still lingers around Alabamas building, even if the Crimson Tide are not dwelling on it the same way outside observers might. The 2024 loss to Vanderbilt was a jolt, ending a long run of dominance in the series and becoming part of the backdrop to Alabama missing the College Football Playoff that season. As the Tide prepare to face the Commodores again, Kalen DeBoer and defensive coordinator Kane Wommack have pointed back to that game as a reminder of how quickly a season can shift when urgency slips.
The message from the staff is less about revenge than about standards. Some players have treated the loss as a distant memory rather than a central talking point, but Alabamas coaches have leaned on it to reinforce the need for relentlessness from snap to snap. For a program that expects to control games, the Vanderbilt result remains a useful lesson in what happens when that edge disappears, and why the Tide are making sure it does not happen again. [Read more 🡒]
Alabama Recruiting Debate May Be Bigger Than This Year's Class
Andrew Ivins early look at Alabamas 2027 recruiting class left him uneasy, but the 247Sports director of scouting has since come around on the bigger picture. The class is sitting at No. 32, which is Alabamas lowest ranking in the 247Sports era, but Ivins now sees a path that could make sense in todays college football landscape if the Tide continue to lean into a larger high school haul and use the transfer market to fill in the gaps.
Greg Byrne has already signaled that Alabama wants to put more emphasis on high school recruiting in 2028, which only adds another layer to the debate. For a program that has long been measured by elite class rankings, the question is no longer just how this class stacks up on paper, but whether Alabamas broader roster-building approach can keep pace with the sports shifting rules and expectations. [Read more 🡒]
Alabama Has A Real Stake In The SECs 2027 Scheduling Scramble
The College Football Playoffs new five-year agreement with ESPN is already forcing a major reset on how teams build future schedules, and Alabama has a real stake in how the SEC responds. Starting next season, Power Five programs will need to line up at least 10 Power Five opponents to stay eligible for the expanded 24-team field beginning in 2027, which has sent schools across the SEC, Big Ten, Big 12 and ACC scrambling to adjust their calendars.
For Alabama, the ripple effect matters because scheduling has long been part of the programs playoff rsum and national-brand calculus. Some schools are already canceling previously booked games and hunting for replacements, while Oregon State and Washington State have a waiver that lets them count as Power Five teams despite the upheaval around their conference status. The SECs next move will shape not just who the Crimson Tide plays, but how much room there is to maneuver in a new playoff era. [Read more 🡒]