Alabama and Tennessee continue to sign top guards
The Southeastern Conference has undeniably been run by Kentucky for the last decade, but the presence of challengers has continued to develop behind the Wildcats in nearly every season. Two programs trying to climb the ladder and provide strong resistance to the conference’s throne are Alabama and Tennessee, who have maintained themselves as persistent recruiting threats in recent cycles.
Rick Barnes and Nate Oats have continued to rely on strong freshman to buoy their rosters and elevate on-court performances, but have especially targeted elite backcourt talent to find success.
The Vols received a signature from top-15 point guard Kennedy Chandler, while the Tide received one from top-10 point guard JD Davison. The impressive aspect isn’t just signing top talent this season, but that both programs have formed a history of signing 5-star guards to their rosters.
Alabama has signed, via recruiting or transfers, to land one in thre of the last five classes (Collin Sexton and Jahvon Quinerly), while Tennessee has four in the last three years. The likelihood that these players translate to significant improvements in wins is fairly high.