Nate Oats didn’t hide the biggest issue he’s seen from Alabama basketball this preseason: the rebounds still aren’t where they need to be.
After the Auburn exhibition on Oct. 22 in Birmingham, the Crimson Tide coach made it plain that the glass remains a concern, even with the size he’s been putting on the floor.
"Our rebounding still isn't fixed," Oats said on Oct. 22 in Birmingham. "We're playing big lineups without (Aden) Holloway and (Anderson) Diaz out there.
I mean everybody that plays is 6-5, 6-6 and taller. So if we can't rebound better with the lineups we've been putting out there, like [that's a problem].
Holloway and Diaz are going to play."
That has been a familiar theme for Alabama in recent years, and Oats has spent plenty of time trying to address it. This roster is built to help, at least on paper: 12 of the 15 players on the 2026-27 team are listed at 6-foot-6 or taller.
Still, size alone hasn’t solved everything in the preseason. Alabama went through three exhibition games, and while there were flashes of promise on the boards in one of them, the Tide came up short in the other two. Those games came without guards Aden Holloway, Anderson Diaz and Preston Murphy Jr., the three players on the roster under 6-foot-6.
"What's our rebounding issue going to look like when we're not rolling out 6-5, 6-6, 6-9, 6-8 at the three, whatever it is?" Oats said. "6-10, 6-11, we have big lineups out there and we're still not rebounding the ball very well, so it's a major concern."
Oats pointed to a few reasons the numbers have lagged. Jamarion Davis-Fleming has spent less time on the floor because of foul trouble, even though he was strong on the glass against Ole Miss. Drew Fielder also collected 10 rebounds in that game, but neither transfer matched that production in the other two exhibition outings.
There were other uneven performances, too. Brandon Garrison had five rebounds against Auburn, but Oats said he "needs more" from the Kentucky transfer.
London Jemison finished with just two rebounds, which Oats said is "not going to cut it." He also said he has been using Jemison more at small forward "to get bigger."
Jemison was the first player to re-sign with Alabama this offseason, and Oats expects a jump from him in Year 2.
The staff has liked what it has seen from Keitenn Bristow and 6-foot-6 guard Tarris Bouie on the boards, and Oats added that freshman Jaxon Richardson should be able to help there as well "because he'll really rebound it."
And then there’s Amari Allen. The 6-foot-6 guard, who was listed as a forward last season, led Alabama in rebounds per game as a freshman at 6.9. He should be around that neighborhood again, though Oats suggested the number could dip a bit because Allen will be asked to handle more of the ball and score more this season.
Alabama will need production from that whole group and more, especially with Collins Onyejiaka and TJ St. Louis still out of the exhibition action even though both were healthy.
Onyejiaka, who missed almost all of last season because of a heart condition, was cleared to play against Furman but did not see the floor because of how the Paladins played. That leaves his role still somewhat unsettled, even though Alabama will face plenty of teams better than Furman this season.
St. Louis, the team’s lone 7-footer, is expected to be used very sparingly as a freshman. Oats said after the Ole Miss game that he would essentially be a redshirt and not play much.
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