TUSCALOOSA — It was not the outcome Mark Sears or the rest of Alabama’s five seniors were hoping for on Senior Night. The Crimson Tide fell 99-94 to No. 5 Florida, suffering a frustrating second-straight loss after a buzzer beater sunk Alabama against Tennessee on Saturday.
That made it a bittersweet moment for Alabama’s star player after the game. Sears won 79 times heading into his final game at Coleman Colieaum. Fittingly, he led Alabama with 30 points, continuing a superb run of form that fans have become accustomed to and will hope to see a few more of as Alabama heads toward postseason play.
Sears was unable to get win No. 80. But that won’t change how he feels about the building he first visited as a seventh-grader and where he made so many memories for Tide fans.
“This place is always going to be my home,” Sears told reporters after the game. “It sucks how it ended in Coleman, but this place will forever be my home.”
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The loss is certainly frustrating. And the competitor in Sears will be focused on rebounding against No. 1 Auburn on Saturday. But Alabama’s best player got some much-deserved recognition from Tide fans after the game. Coach Nate Oats expressed his appreciation for those fans who stayed after a tough loss to celebrate an in-state product and one of the best to don an Alabama jersey.
“He’s done a lot for us, obviously,” Oats said. “He was our leading scorer in our first and only Final Four we’ve ever played in. He’s a National Player of the Year candidate going into the year. We’ve been a top-10 team all year. He’s been our leader. I think he’s playing really hard. He didn’t shoot it great from 3 tonight, but he’s had some pretty efficient games here over the last month. He’s given us pretty good effort on D.
“So, for a kid from Alabama to do what he’s done these last three years here at Alabama. It would have been nice to send him out with a win on senior night.”
Sears’ past accolades speak for themselves. He was the second-leading scorer on Alabama’s 2022-23 team that earned a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. Sears built on that performance by becoming a consensus second-team All-American and leading Alabama to its first Final Four in school history. He set a program record with 797 points during that season and currently ranks in the top-10 in career points, with his eyes set on adding to that tally.
It’s what’s still to come for Sears that Oats is the most excited about. The Alabama coach has maintained that Sears has been playing the best basketball of his decorated career over the past few weeks. His effort on defense is a response to being benched earlier in conference play against LSU, and his leadership will be critical as the Tide aims to recover from its late-season struggles as it prepares for an NCAA Tournament run.
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Along with Sears, four other players got to enjoy senior day recognition. Tuscaloosa native Chris Youngblood, Tide forwards Grant Nelson and Clifford Omoruyi and walk-on Max Scharnowski all played their last games in Coleman. Scharnowski has been a fan favorite his entire career, getting raucous cheers from the Coleman faithful whenever he’s able to enter the game. The other trio of scholarship seniors haven’t spent as much time at Alabama as Sears. But have all had memorable moments over their respective Tide careers.
Oats is confident his veteran group can rally Alabama after back-to-back losses. He ended his statement about the Tide’s seniors with a call to action that is fitting for a group that has earned high expectations. Now it’s up to the Tide’s leaders to answer that call and take advantage of opportunities to re-ignite Alabama’s pop and turn a spoiled senior day into postseason success.
“But, it was good the amount of people who stayed and recognized [Sears] and the other three seniors. Grant’s had a really good two years here and then Youngblood’s from Tuscaloosa originally and back home. It would have been nice for him to play a little better. He is one of those that just seemed like he’s a little tied. So, we gotta try to figure out how to get his legs back up under him. Cliff, one of the nicest kids you’d ever meet. I thought that O-board where we hit the 3 off it, off Grant’s miss at the free-throw line was big. I thought maybe it could give us a little bit of lift and get us going. He made some plays like that.
“So, everybody’s capable of doing more. We’ve just gotta get them all doing more.”
The Philadelphia 76ers selected Alabama guard Labaron Philon Jr. with the 22nd overall pick of the 2026 NBA draft Tuesday night.
Philon is the first pick of the Mike Gansey era after he replaced Daryl Morey as the team’s president of basketball operations.
Who is Labaron Philon Jr.?
Philon, 20, led the Crimson Tide in scoring last season, averaging 22.0 points on nearly 40% shooting on 3-pointers. He was the focal point of one of the nation’s most potent offenses, as Alabama led the country in points per game in the 2025-26 season. The Crimson Tide (No. 16) finished the season with a 25-10 record and went 13-5 against conference opponents.
Philon, who helped lead Alabama to the Sweet 16 in the NCAA tournament, earned Third-Team All-American and First-Team All-SEC honors in his sophomore season.
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In 33 games last season for Alabama, Philon scored 725 total points, which is ranked third-most by a player in a single season in program history.
NBA commissioner Adam Silver shakes hands with Labaron Philon Jr. after he is drafted twenty-second overall by the Philadelphia 76ers during Round One of the 2026 NBA Draft at Barclays Center on June 23, 2026 in New York City.
Arturo Holmes / Getty Images
Philon was the 34th-ranked basketball recruit in the country entering his freshman season at Alabama, according to 247sports. The four-star guard initially committed to playing at Auburn, but decommitted. He then signed a letter of intent to play at Kansas, but didn’t play there, either. He then committed to the Crimson Tide in April 2024.
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Philon impressed as a freshman at Alabama and averaged 10.6 points in 37 games. He declared for the 2025 NBA draft but then withdrew and returned for his sophomore season, where he saw his scoring average jump more than 10 points.
Philon is a Mobile, Alabama, native and played at Baker High School in Mobile County, where he scored 2,334 points in three seasons. He was named the Class 7A Player of the Year twice.
As a junior, he averaged 35 points, 6.2 rebounds and 3.9 assists and was named Alabama Mr. Basketball, which is given to the best high school boys’ basketball player in the state. Philon transferred to Link Academy, a boarding school in Missouri, for his senior year of high school.
Philon now joins a backcourt headlined by Tyrese Maxey and VJ Edgecombe heading into the 2026-27 season. Quentin Grimes could return to Philadelphia next season and add even more depth, but he’s an unrestricted free agent.
The pick the Sixers used to pick Philon was acquired in the deal that sent Jared McCain to the Oklahoma City Thunder at the trade deadline.
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Labaron Philon Jr. scouting report
CBS Sports had Philon ranked as the 14th-best prospect in the 2026 NBA draft.
Here are his strengths and weaknesses, according to CBS Sports:
Strengths
On-ball creator who made an extreme leap as a sophomore, ranking in the 99th percentile in isolations (was 24th percentile as a freshman) and 94th as a pick-and-roll handler (was 32nd percentile as a freshman). Combines smooth attack with sudden change of speed and direction, dexterity, and finishing craft in the lane.
Shot-maker who can make tough shots off both the catch (36% on contested catch-and-shoot 3-pointers), dribble (38% from deep), and has extreme gravity when he’s spacing the floor (46% on unguarded catch-and-shoot 3-pointers).
Shown pliability to thrive in different roles over the years and is a similarly versatile creator, because he’s a scoring threat at multiple levels and also an accurate, and somewhat creative, passer with both hands off the dribble.
Weaknesses
Inconsistent defensive approach. Showed more engagement and potential as a freshman, but couldn’t maintain that as a sophomore when taking on a bigger offensive role.
Lacks overwhelming physicality or highest level explosiveness, and didn’t add any notable muscle mass between his freshman and sophomore seasons (175 pounds at 2025 combine and 176 at 2026 combine).
Unclear how well his creation scales to the NBA level when he will have less usage and volume coupled by more physicality in opposing defenders.
Alabama football hosted a hometown kid for an official visit last weekend when it got Jeremiah Beverley on campus for an official visit.
Beverley attends Hillcrest High School in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and ESPN currently has him rated as a four-star recruit. He is considering Alabama, Cincinnati, Wake Forest and others.
The Crimson Tide offered Beverley earlier this month and got him on campus for an official visit last weekend. The Alabama target told Touchdown Alabama he used the visit to learn what the Tide has planned for him if he commits.
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“I’m truly happy that I went on that official visit,” Beverley said. “Blessed for that. All I was talking about was the next step, what I got to do? So, just knowing what they have planned for me, knowing what they have set for me.”
At 6-foot-2 and 235 pounds, Beverley makes plays for Hillcrest-Tuscaloosa as a defensive end. Alabama has plans to use him similarly at the next level.
“They’re going to have me at wolf mostly,” Beverley said. “I know coach (Kane) Wommack and coach (Christian) Robinson, I think they see me at other positions, but I know it is guaranteed they’re going to see me at Wolf and me working my way up on special teams, and they expect that out of me.”
Beverley is expected to announce a commitment decision on Friday.
Watch Jeremiah Beverley’s Highlights Below:
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Justin Smith is the Managing Editor and Lead Writer for Touchdown Alabama Magazine with over 10 years of writing experience & expertise. Smith has consistently delivered high quality, extensively researched information on the University of Alabama’s Crimson Tide football team that fans can trust. Smith is official credentialed media with the University of Alabama under Touchdown Alabama Magazine. He is also the Director of Recruiting for Touchdown Enterprises, specializing in scouting and analyzing high school recruits around the nation, specifically focusing on recruits within the state of Alabama.
Alabama football is hiring Noah Fisher to be its assistant tight ends coach, according to CBS Sports’ Matt Zenitz.
Fisher spent two seasons as a graduate assistant working with the offensive line and tight ends at Louisville before joining the Tide’s staff. He played three years on the offensive line at South Alabama and spent one season with Tulane. The Jaguars started Fisher along its offensive line when he was a player for multiple games.
The Crimson Tide appear to want to use their tight ends in multiple ways in the future including as extra blockers along the line of scrimmage. Fisher looks as if he can assist the Tide with this mission.
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Justin Smith is the Managing Editor and Lead Writer for Touchdown Alabama Magazine with over 10 years of writing experience & expertise. Smith has consistently delivered high quality, extensively researched information on the University of Alabama’s Crimson Tide football team that fans can trust. Smith is official credentialed media with the University of Alabama under Touchdown Alabama Magazine. He is also the Director of Recruiting for Touchdown Enterprises, specializing in scouting and analyzing high school recruits around the nation, specifically focusing on recruits within the state of Alabama.
