NCAA Basketball: Preseason top 25 power rankings for 2022-23 season

The one big storyline to watch is the health of starting point guard Jahvon Quinerly, who averaged 13.8 ppg and 4.2 apg last season before suffering a knee injury in the NCAA Tournament. His projected timeline to return is around January or even late December. His return will be important to the Tide but they can hold off until then, assuming that five-star freshman point guard Jaden Bradley and Ohio transfer Mark Sears can handle the ball-handling duties in the non-conference.

Bradley is a 6’3 true point guard that’s a quality passer and can facilitate at a high level. And he can play next to Sears, who averaged 19.6 ppg and 4.1 apg last season as a breakout sophomore and shot 41% from three-point range and 88% from the free throw line. He can play off the ball and allow Bradley to play his true position.

Alabama also has another perimeter transfer in Dominick Welch, who started a career 104 games at St. Bonaventure and was a double-digit scorer in all four years. He shot and made a lot of threes with a career 37% from deep at over six attempts a game. Plus, Texas Tech transfer and former five-star prospect Nimari Burnett is back after missing all of last season with an injury. His impact with the Tide is unknown but he adds to the already solid depth.

The best player on the team could potentially be Brandon Miller, a five-star freshman wing that has already had some big games during the Tide’s preseason tour. He can score anywhere inside the arc and is a solid shooter from deep as well. He could replace Jaden Shackelford as the go-to option on offense.

The frontcourt should be fine, assuming that Charles Bediako has his own sophomore breakout campaign. The former five-star center prospect was solid as a freshman and had some big games but far too many times he wasn’t an impact player. Bediako has great defensive potential and Alabama was weak on that end overall last season. Improvement from him alone could raise everything for the team. And with returning forward Noah Gurley, top-tier Junior College transfer Nick Pringle, and four-star freshman Noah Gurley, there’s plenty of depth inside as well.