Alabama Basketball: Takeaways from victory over Jacksonville State

Freshmen Don’t Make Much of an Impact

Alabama entered the 2020-21 season with the 11th ranked recruiting class in the nation. With four-stars Josh Primo, Alex Tchikou, and Keon Ambrose-Hylton, plus three-stars Darius Miles, and Keon Ellis, Alabama had a lot of hope for their young guns.

Unfortunately, before the season began, Tchikou injured his Achilles, and because of it, he will be forced to miss the entire 2020-21 season. With that, the other four all got playing time on Wednesday night, but none of them started, and only two of the four recorded a point.

Primo, Ambrose-Hylton, Miles, and Ellis combined for seven points on seven total shot attempts, with eight rebounds, three assists, two steals, a block, and two turnovers. It should be noted that none of the four were given significant minutes, but it is still rather surprising given how highly ranked they all were.

Because of the talent Alabama has all over their roster, I wouldn’t expect this to change too much as the season progresses, but it might change a bit. Although he failed to record a point with only two rebounds, two assists, a steal, and a block, I was very impressed with Keon Ellis on Wednesday.

Ellis looked as if he could be someone Nate Oats and Alabama could rely on for 15+ minutes a game and he would be able to help out on both ends of the floor. Although we only saw him for a couple of minutes, Ellis showed signs of what he could be down the road.

I would love to see Josh Primo get some more time on the court as he was ranked 59th nationally, and was the ninth-ranked combo guard in the Class of 2020, as well. That being said, Primo might be a guy who could be a big boost off the bench.

Nonetheless, Alabama got next to nothing out of their freshmen in the first game of the season, but this is something that could potentially change as the season progresses.