re: Tide Hoops | Please Anchor

I thought the covid year folks didn't count against the roster?

This is his 4th year playing so next year would be his Covid year and wouldn't count.

I like that news. Gurley frustrates the hell out of me at times but he has flashes of being really good and one would think another year in the system would help him perform better. Even if he’s quiet, you gotta think keeping a 5th year guy around only helps the locker room as well.

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Nate Oats on his weekly show just said that Noah Gurley told him this past week that he's returning next year.

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He won’t count as a scholarship either will he?

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He won’t count as a scholarship either will he?

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Nope. Covid Year

Jahvon Quinerly, James Rojas, and Keon Ellis to be to be honored on Senior Day.

Nate Oats:

"We're planning on this being their last year with us."

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Noah Gurley makes major decision on future with Alabama

Noah Gurley, a senior forward for the Alabama Crimson Tide, is set to return for a fifth season, head coach Nate Oats revealed Thursday afternoon on his radio show. He spent the first three seasons of his collegiate career as a starter for Furman.

“He told us this past week that he is going to come back next year,” Oats said of Gurley. “We are super happy to get him back. I think he is going to be dynamite next year with a year under his belt.”

Gurley is averaging 7.5 points and 3.6 rebounds per game off the bench for the Crimson Tide this season. His best outing this season came in during a winning effort over the Tennessee Volunteers on Dec. 29, scoring 20 points on 8-10 shooting. He added to his scoring totals with 10 rebounds for his one and only double-double of the season.

Nate Oats: Defense was not going to be enough to beat Kentucky

Alabama had an advantage against Kentucky heading into their matchup Saturday due to injuries inside the Wildcats’ back court, and head coach Nate Oats wanted to highlight having two of UK’s best defenders and primary ball handlers in TyTy Washington and Sahvir Wheeler out of the lineup.

The did exactly that early and often, leading Kentucky by as much as 13 points in the first half, but the Crimson Tide failed to keep their foot on the gas and fell to the No. 4 team in the nation 90-81 while getting swept in the season series at the same time.

“We kept telling them after the hot start, our defense wasn’t going to be good enough to win the game,” Oats said.

That effort that Oats was alluding to showed up after the final media timeout in the first half. Alabama got outscored 19-5 before halftime and saw a double-digit lead turn into a one-point halftime deficit in the blink of an eye. Once out of the locker room, Kentucky went on a 24-12 run to essentially end the game at 71-58 with just under 12 minutes remaining.

“It’s very frustrating to watch,” Oats said after the loss in Lexington. “It’s not a recipe to win on a consistent basis. And that’s why I think we’ve seen the ups and downs we’ve had this year.”

Sitting at 17-10 on the year, Oats hasn’t been shy to give constructive criticism to his players publicly. He’s said before if he didn’t feel that his players were giving their all, there was a spot on the bench with their name on it.

“It’s disappointing to lose games when I feel like our effort wasn’t where it needed to be to win a road game,” Oats said. “Guys got to figure out how hard they need to play to win these road games, because we’ve got two more road games left. We need to win them. We got figure out how to play a lot better on the road.”

Despite the poor performance defensively, Alabama can at least hang their hats on the fact that they had the No. 4 team in the country, and No. 6 team overall in the initial early March Madness seedings with their backs against the wall early. Keon Ellis led the charge with a season-high 28 points on 7-11 shooting beyond the arc (10-16 overall) while playing 37 minutes for Oats and the Crimson Tide Saturday.

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Does anyone remember if Collin Sexton was honored on senior night the year he was here? Just wondering if there are any tea leaves to be read there in regards to what will happen with JD. I feel like JD would probably be honored in some way as well if he was already 100% entering the draft no matter what.

Never thought about the JD thing but its a good point. I sort of remember sexton being honored , not sure tho... wouldnt surprise me because everyone knew he was a sure fire top 10 pick. Jd's draft projection is all over the place,wouldnt shock me whatever he decides. My friend and i went to the missouri game and hung around for a bit afterwards. He came back out and took pics with the kids and messed around with them on the court, pretending to guard them and such. Didnt seem like a kid thats necessarily dying to leave college. Ellis did same thing as far as interaction. Made me realize we ve got some great kids in our program and its a testament to our staff and the culture

Roster should be a pest for opponents defensively. Bradley, griffen, miller, burnett, miles, holt and gurley all have long wingspans