Alabama Basketball: How Tide changed into a national title contender

March 20, 2021….. Two years to the date that Alabama basketball suffered one of the worst losses and darkest days in program history, the Tide will take the court in the NCAA Tournament looking to put the finishing touches on a historic season.

The Crimson Tide suffered arguably the worst and most embarrassing loss in the long, storied history of Alabama basketball on March 20, 2019. The 1-seed Tide fell at home to 8-seed Norfolk State 80-79 in OT in the opening round of the NIT Tournament, a loss that sealed the Crimson Tide’s sixth straight season-ending in 15-16 losses. Alabama parted ways with head coach Avery Johnson after the game, and there was more uncertainty about the roster for next season than ever before.

What now? Where do the Tide go from here? You had rising stars in Herbert Jones, John Petty, Kira Lewis Jr, and Alex Reese who shined in the game supposed to return, as well as graduating seniors in Donta Hall and Riley Norris moving on. How does the Tide respond?

As you know by now, in steps Nate Oats from Buffalo hit the ground running from day one. Oats convinced players to return and remain in Tuscaloosa, as well as hit the recruiting trail and transfer portal hard. Oats had a lot of work to do as soon as he stepped off the plane in Tuscaloosa, and he quietly started to build momentum for a program that was about to take-off.

The Tide’s roster reflected this as it looked very different the next season compared to the previous. This included not only a new-look roster led by Jones, Petty, Lewis, and Reese but a totally new and different play-style that would transform the program as we know it.

Sure the Tide struggled at times in year one of the Nate Oats era, but we saw exactly the force that Alabama could become. Despite the injuries, defense, and more, we saw the up-tempo, shot-making abilities, and record-setting performances that hadn’t graced the court inside Coleman Coliseum in over a decade.

Sure there were places to improve, as there always will be, but everyone on the national level now knew about Alabama basketball, a team that very few outside of Tuscaloosa knew about before the season began.

Fast-forward to this season, and Alabama has become that force. The playstyle is dominating college basketball, the defense is arguably the most improved area of any team in the country, and the excitement for Alabama basketball is nearing an all-time high.

Here we are with Alabama set to take the court in Indianapolis for the 2021 NCAA Tournament with aspirations of a Final Four and a national championship, both potentially the first in school history.

If the Tide are able to cut down the nets, we should look back on March 20, 2019, and smile. Not because of the loss, but because of what is happening only two years later.

We should smile despite the dark day of Alabama basketball on March 20, 2019, but because of everything that has transpired from the past two years since then leading up to now. Herbert Jones, John Petty, and Alex Reese could’ve left, but they didn’t. Nate Oats could’ve gone elsewhere, but he didn’t. This group feels special because of that day two years ago, which is why this season feels so special.

Smile because Alabama basketball is back on the national level, and isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. As head coach Nate Oats said after the Crimson Tide won their first SEC Tournament Championship since 1991, “we’re not a football school, not a basketball school, we’re a championship school.”

While Alabama football will always be there, Alabama basketball is here to stay and will be a force for many years to come thanks to what has transpired since March 20, 2019.