re: Tide Hoops | Recruiting

Ah Christ it’s gonna be a long day

A newspaper in Lexington, Kentucky published a long-form article all about their "rival" being a major contender on the national scene while referring to Alabama basketball.


What a time to be alive.

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Preston Murphy couldn’t believe it had only been a month and a half since the Alabama men’s basketball team played in its first-ever Final Four in Phoenix.

Murphy has been busy since the Crimson Tide’s season ended. The second-year assistant has helped head coach Nate Oats replenish a roster with one of the nation’s top recruiting classes. Alabama has signed eight players either from the high school ranks or the transfer portal for a player haul that ranks No. 3 in the nation, per the On3 Industry Rankings.

Since the Crimson Tide’s final game against national champion UConn, Alabama brought in five players to its roster for the 2024-25 season, and Murphy was key in those commitments

“It’s been very frenetic,” said Murphy in an exclusive interview with BamaOnLine. “It was a great high, obviously, playing in the Final Four. As a player, it’s your dream. As a coach, it’s your dream. That’s the goal, to make it to the last weekend. From a recruiting standpoint, we were probably a little behind some other programs that had finished playing prior to us. So they were maybe further down the line with some recruits and things of that nature.

“But I think we did a good job of getting caught up and identifying the guys that we wanted who we felt could help us advance our program and who we felt that we could help advance their careers.”

Though Alabama had some catching up to do, the fact that the Crimson Tide was playing on the final weekend of college basketball season caught the attention of prospective players.

“I think it had a huge impact,” Murphy said. “Obviously, being one of only four teams still playing, most of these guys are huge college basketball fans, so everyone’s watching and they’re seeing how we play – the pace, the freedom – and I think they’re seeing a good basketball product on the court and maybe something they wanna be a part of.”

Murphy joined the Alabama men’s basketball program last offseason after the Tide lost all three of its assistant coaches to head coaching jobs elsewhere. But this was his first time getting to see Oats go right to work on the recruiting trail, whether for the remaining high school talent or immediate help in the portal. The two combined to reel in quite the haul.

“Coach has a very analytical mind,” Murphy said. “He knows what works for him and for his program. We collaborate and talk a lot about it and kind of get the guys that we think are gonna have the most success playing for him. Like everyone can’t play or isn’t a right fit for him.

“I think as we go through the vetting process, he’s very particular in what he wants, what he’s looking for, and then we go out and find it.”

alabama logo
Preston Murphy breaks down 'frenetic' offseason as Alabama reloads roster
by:
Charlie Potter
•
05/28/24
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Preston Murphy couldn’t believe it had only been a month and a half since the Alabama men’s basketball team played in its first-ever Final Four in Phoenix.

Murphy has been busy since the Crimson Tide’s season ended. The second-year assistant has helped head coach Nate Oats replenish a roster with one of the nation’s top recruiting classes. Alabama has signed eight players either from the high school ranks or the transfer portal for a player haul that ranks No. 3 in the nation, per the On3 Industry Rankings.

Since the Crimson Tide’s final game against national champion UConn, Alabama brought in five players to its roster for the 2024-25 season, and Murphy was key in those commitments.



“It’s been very frenetic,” said Murphy in an exclusive interview with BamaOnLine. “It was a great high, obviously, playing in the Final Four. As a player, it’s your dream. As a coach, it’s your dream. That’s the goal, to make it to the last weekend. From a recruiting standpoint, we were probably a little behind some other programs that had finished playing prior to us. So they were maybe further down the line with some recruits and things of that nature.

“But I think we did a good job of getting caught up and identifying the guys that we wanted who we felt could help us advance our program and who we felt that we could help advance their careers.”

Though Alabama had some catching up to do, the fact that the Crimson Tide was playing on the final weekend of college basketball season caught the attention of prospective players.

“I think it had a huge impact,” Murphy said. “Obviously, being one of only four teams still playing, most of these guys are huge college basketball fans, so everyone’s watching and they’re seeing how we play – the pace, the freedom – and I think they’re seeing a good basketball product on the court and maybe something they wanna be a part of.”




Murphy joined the Alabama men’s basketball program last offseason after the Tide lost all three of its assistant coaches to head coaching jobs elsewhere. But this was his first time getting to see Oats go right to work on the recruiting trail, whether for the remaining high school talent or immediate help in the portal. The two combined to reel in quite the haul.

“Coach has a very analytical mind,” Murphy said. “He knows what works for him and for his program. We collaborate and talk a lot about it and kind of get the guys that we think are gonna have the most success playing for him. Like everyone can’t play or isn’t a right fit for him.

“I think as we go through the vetting process, he’s very particular in what he wants, what he’s looking for, and then we go out and find it.”


With it being Murphy’s first full offseason on Oats’ staff at Alabama, he was instrumental in the recruitment of several top targets. None bigger than Rutgers center Clifford Omoruyi, who filled a need for a missing rim protector on UA’s roster. Murphy had fun with that one.

Back on April 29, Murphy tweeted a photo of Clifford the Big Red Dog wearing an Alabama hat. It was one of five tweets in as many days related to the transfer portal big man that generated quite the buzz among the Tide fan base. On May 5, Murphy shared a Bitmoji of himself dropping a mic after Omoruyi committed to Alabama, proving him prophetic.

Murphy detailed how the string of Clifford the Big Red Dog/Omoruyi tweets came about.

“I guess there was a rumor that he wasn’t actually visiting, and they were like, ‘Well, is he visiting? Is he not visiting?’” Murphy explained. “So I just tweeted a picture of Clifford with a red hat on, just kind of confirming the fact that he was visiting. Then there was a lot of back and forth on Twitter, so I just said, you know what, I’m just gonna tweet something every day until this kid makes a decision.”

quote:

---

Mac posted 17 mins ago

---

One interview could change it though. I wonder if we have a Sears return video locked and loaded

I'm a puddle right now.

I hit 10 3-pointers in a row at the gym this morning, which is a sign that Sears is returning. It's science.

quote:

---

I hit 10 3-pointers in a row at the gym this morning, which is a sign that Sears is returning. It's science.

---

I think that's a sign that Avery Jr is returning

I have refreshed this page like 5000 times today. I’m making Chicken enough ad revenue money to buy the Costco sized box of corn dogs.

HES BACK