TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Last time out against Illinois, Alabama All-American guard Mark Sears was held scoreless in the Crimson Tide’s 100-87 win in Birmingham. It was only the second time in Sears’ five-year college career that has happened and the first time at Alabama.
Facing another ranked foe in No. 6 Houston in the Players Era Festival in Las Vegas, the Tide will need Sears – and everyone else – to play well. Speaking to reporters via Zoom on Monday night, coach Nate Oats discussed how Alabama is helping Sears get back on track.
“The first thing is I think he’s gotta understand that it’s gonna be a lot different than any other college year for him because he’s the preseason player of the year and people are gonna design their defense to stop him,” Oats said. “He may play a game where he’s got an unbelievably great game and he only scores five points but he moves the ball around, he attracts so much attention and it makes it easier for his teammates.
“I think one, he’s gotta quit pressing. He’s not gonna average as many points this year as he did last year. We knew that coming in. People are gonna focus on him. We’ve got more talent around him. That just is what it is. He’s gotta do what it takes to help us win games.
“Some games that’s gonna be move the ball and get assists. Some games it’s gonna be be out there and attract a lot of attention and make it easier on everybody else. And some games they’re gonna let Mark get his and they’ll make sure he doesn’t assists and don’t let all the other guys get going and he may need to score 30 for us to win.”
Sears entered last week’s contest averaging 17.3 points per game and had scored in double figures in each of Alabama’s first four games. Last year, the guard only produced single-digit points once (9 vs. Missouri) as he led the Crimson Tide to its first-ever Final Four.
Alabama has one of the best backcourts in the country, led by Sears, but the fifth-year senior may not walk onto the court and automatically score 20 points like he did a season ago.
“He’s just gotta get comfortable with a new role, comfortable with just doing whatever it takes to win and understanding that there’s gonna be games he’s just not gonna score as many,” Oats said. “And I think we’ve gotta do a decent job screening for him to get him open, giving him space to get downhill, keep him playing aggressive without being overly aggressive to where he’s trying to score on multiple opponents.
“But he’s gotta stay aggressive and just make the right reads when they bring multiple defenders to him.”
Former assistant upsets Rutgers
Alabama will open the Players Era Festival against Houston on Tuesday, November 26, but just one day later, the Tide will take on Rutgers. The Scarlet Knights begin the tournament against Notre Dame tomorrow and are coming off their first loss of the 2024-25 season.
On Sunday, Rutgers lost on the road at Kennesaw State, 79-77. The Owls are led by former Alabama player and assistant coach Antoine Pettway, who guided the basketball program to its first home victory over a ranked opponent in school history. Kennesaw State dominated on the glass, out-rebounding Rutgers, 46-27, and led by as many as 21 points.
Oats, who retained Pettway when he was hired and worked with him for four years, said he was able to watch the second half of the game before Alabama left for the airport on Sunday.
“Super happy for Pettway,” Oats said. “He’s got a signature win. I think the first win in Kennesaw history over a top-25 team. So a big congrats to Antoine, his staff and his players. I hope they didn’t kind of wake up the sleeping bear, if you will, with Rutgers because they’re a super-talented team. I’m sure they got a wake-up call a little bit.”
Although Alabama will play Rutgers in less than 48 hours, Oats hasn’t turned his attention to the Scarlet Knights yet. He’ll do that after the Houston game. But his staff is already preparing.
“The assistants are watching Rutgers film,” Oats said. “Whoever’s got the scout has been on it. And I think Coach (Brian) Adams, who runs the defense, is starting to look at them a little bit, knowing that we’ve pretty much got the Houston scout in. So they’ve looked at it.”
Oats joked that maybe a former Alabama assistant can also help out in the Rutgers scout.
“Hopefully, Pettway can share the secrets with us,” he said.
NIL keeping Tide busy in Vegas
As part of the Players Era Festival, Alabama’s players – as well as the other seven teams taking part in the first-of-its-kind event – will receive NIL compensation. The Vegas-based tournament is committed to providing $9 million for their engagement in activities apart from the competition, according to the event. The next three years will include more than $50 million.
For these NIL payments, players will perform services “fully compliant” with NCAA regulations.
Oats can vouch for that, as the Alabama coach said his players had a full Monday schedule.
“Really since breakfast until practice we had at 3:30, their day was full with the different stuff they had going,” Oats said. “I didn’t do it. It’s the Players Era, not the Coaches Era, so I was able to spend a little time with my daughters out doing some shopping while they were out doing the different stuff they needed to do for their NIL opportunities.
“I think it’s good. I think there’s ways to help these players make some money off their name, image and likeness, and I think the tournament operators here have been in that space and done a really good job promoting all the players that are here and helping bring some recognition to them and financially able to compensate them for it.
“They had a full day. I told our guys usually we wouldn’t be on our feet this much the day before the game, but every team is the same, so there’s not any type of competitive disadvantage. And I think event organizers did a really good job they weren’t overdoing it physically with these guys, but they definitely kept them busy today.”
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