NCAA Basketball: Top-25 impact incoming recruiting classes entering 2024-25 season

18. Alabama Crimson Tide

After taking Alabama to its first-ever Final Four in program history, Nate Oats and the Crimson Tide have their sights set even higher entering 2024-25: a victory on Monday night.

Alabama, who finds itself as a consensus preseason top-three team, has zero shortage of talent. All-American Mark Sears is back. Grant Nelson is back. Jarin Stevenson is back. The Crimson Tide reloaded in the portal. In short, the Crimson Tide hit the offseason with stride.

Despite the plethora of veteran talent assembled and retained, Alabama’s elite recruiting class is getting overlooked. According to 24/7 Sports, Alabama has the 2nd-best composite class ranking in the country.

Derrion Reid, an aggressive, explosive and versatile five-star recruit, is currently a projected first-rounder per ESPN’s latest 2025 NBA Mock Draft. Reid is the headline for the Tides’ talented recruiting class.

Under normal circumstances, a team that welcomes one of the best recruiting classes in the country would be slated much, much higher. But given how deep and talented the Crimson Tide roster is, question marks remain about how much of an impact players like Derrion Reid, Aiden Sherrell, Labaron Philon and Naas Cunningham can have.

Yet, it would be an utter disservice if recruits of this caliber were left off of the list entirely.