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Alabama basketball aiming to find consistency ahead of SEC play

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Alabama basketball aiming to find consistency ahead of SEC play


TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Alabama basketball wrapped up non-conference play with a 105-82 win over South Dakota State on Sunday. The Crimson Tide (11-2) has won its last five games and will now turn its attention to the best league in college basketball — the Southeastern Conference.

The Tide has had plenty of ups and downs throughout its non-conference run. It went 5-2 in seven straight games against high-major sides, including impressive wins over North Carolina and Illinois and earned gritty wins over Houston and Rutgers. However, Alabama has also struggled in losses to Purdue and Oregon as well as a unique road environment at North Dakota.

Overall, Alabama tested itself against the No. 14 best schedule according to KenPom.com. When assessing the Tide’s non-conference performance, coach Nate Oats highlighted the importance of facing good teams in non-conference play as well as a theme of improved consistency that he wants to see going forward.

“I think there’s a lot we need to be better at, there’s a lot we need to clean up to be competing for a championship in this league,” Oats said after the South Dakota State game. “But I do think we tested ourselves against some of the better teams in the country. We’ve done pretty well at times. We know when we’re playing our best we can play with anybody in the country, we just haven’t been consistent over 40 minutes.”

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Oats has been particularly surprised at Alabama’s lack of consistency shooting the basketball. Despite the occasional strong shooting stretch, Alabama is still making just 31.2% of its shots from beyond the arc this season. The Tide has dealt with injuries to some of its best shooters, including Latrell Wrightsell Jr., Houston Mallette and Chris Youngblood, but Oats is still expecting improvement in the scoring department no matter if Alabama’s 3-point accuracy improves.

“Between those guys we expect to have a little bit better shooting team,” Oats said. “We’ve got to find out different ways to score the basketball when we’re not shooting. Today, we made 18 threes, but we shot 34.5% percent, so it’s not like we shot it great today. Little disappointing with how we’re shooting it from three but we’re gonna have to figure out other ways to score the basketball.”

Oats also wants to see the Tide become more consistent on the offensive glass along with creating and limiting turnovers. The Tide gained some momentum in that department Sunday with a season-low of six turnovers against South Dakota State while converting 14 Jackrabbits giveaways into 24 points.

Though there is still room for improvement as a whole, Oats highlighted a few pleasant surprises this season. The biggest of which has been the play of freshman guard Labaron Philon. The hype for the four-star recruit first began over the summer and he has become a mainstay in the starting lineup and is averaging 11.7 points, 3.7 and 3.8 assists this season. Derrion Reid has also had a strong start to his first season of college basketball. Though he missed the South Dakota State game with an injury, Reid is averaging 7.5 points and 3.7 rebounds and has looked particularly strong in extended minutes through the Tide’s last four games.

As Alabama heads into SEC play, Oats is confident that the Tide’s non-conference schedule prepared his team to contend in the best conference in college basketball. Alabama has been far from perfect on both ends, but games against different types of systems and schemes have helped foster growth and given Alabama different looks to get it ready for the strong opponents and environments it will face in the SEC.

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“We’ve learned a lot,” Oats said. “Going down to Purdue and playing a tough road game, even North Dakota, they were a tough road game. Got to get our lead player package together, we got exposed on that a little up there. We’ve seen lots of different styles, our post defense got exposed a little bit, particularly starting with the Purdue game. We’ve got to be a little bit better with that and have different options with that. Different things we got exposed on that we’ve got to work on, we’ve just got to keep working on it”

Alabama will face undefeated Oklahoma to tip off SEC play. The Sooners (13-0) have been one of the biggest surprises across college basketball so far and are one of three remaining unbeaten SEC sides. Oats acknowledged the strength of the conference as a whole and went back to the theme of consistency that Alabama will have to find in order to be successful during conference play this season.

“I think hopefully our guys, with the level of these teams in the SEC, they’ll be better at staying locked in and focused for 40 minutes,” Oats said. “We got Oklahoma who’s far exceeded everyone’s expectations so far in the year coming in to start the thing out. This is not gonna be an easy game, they’re talent level is good, they’ve good a really good coach. [Porter Moser’s] taken Loyola [Chicago] to the Final Four and been really good. They’re well coached with talent that plays hard, they’re gonna be tough to beat. If we’re gonna have any kind of chance to win the SEC you’ve got to take care of your home floor, so we’ve got a home game to start and we’ll have to be ready to roll against Oklahoma in six days.”

The Tide and Sooners will square off at 5 p.m. CT Saturday inside Coleman Coliseum. The game will be broadcast on SEC Network.



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Top-30 overall recruit Jaxon Richardson commits to Alabama

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Top-30 overall recruit Jaxon Richardson commits to Alabama


Jaxon Richardson, the No. 27 overall recruit in the 2026 class per the Rivals Industry Ranking, has committed to Alabama.

The 6-foot-6 four-star small forward out of Southeastern Prep (FL) ultimately chose the Crimson Tide over USC, Creighton, and Ole Miss. He also received offers from Miami, Cincinnati, Michigan, Florida, Villanova, and others.

Richardson, a McDonald’s All-American, becomes the Crimson Tide’s third commitment of the 2026 cycle. He joins four-star shooting guard Qayden Samuels (No. 28 NATL) and four-star small forward Tarris Bouie (No. 54 NATL).

He’s the son of NBA veteran and two-time NBA Dunk Contest champion Jason Richardson. His older brother, Jase, played for Michigan State last season before being selected 25th overall in the 2025 NBA Draft by the Orlando Magic.

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Rivals’ National Recruiting Analyst Jamie Shaw says Richardson is one of the most explosive players in the 2026 class:

Jaxon Richardson is able to combine fluid athleticism with explosive burst in a way no other player in this class can. He uses his athleticism to his advantage on the floor. He fills the outside channels with a purpose in transition, he is aggressive in the passing lanes, and he plays as a vertical floor spacer in the dunker spots and lob plays. Last summer, playing with the Florida Rebels on Nike’s EYBL Circuit, the 6-foot-6 wing averaged 12.8 points on 54.0 percent shooting and 10.5 attempts per game. Last high school season, he averaged 12.9 points on 61.0 percent shooting on 8.9 attempts per game. He is a highly efficient player, as 84.4 percent of his makes last high school season were at the rim.



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Alabama Baseball Ties Stolen Base Record In Win Over Hornets

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Alabama Baseball Ties Stolen Base Record In Win Over Hornets


Alabama baseball cruised to a win over Alabama State on Wednesday night, beating the Hornets 13-4 to complete the season sweep. The Crimson Tide tied a program record with nine stolen bases in one of the stranger contests that will be played this season.

The tone was set for a tumultuous night on the basepaths in the opening minutes of the game. Leadoff batter Bryce Fowler, who exited Tuesday’s game after getting beaned in the head, was walked, and promptly took second base. He advanced to third on a wild pitch in Justin Lebron’s at-bat, paving the way for Lebron to steal second when he was ultimately walked as well.

The successful baserunning instantly paid off, as Brady Neal drove both in with a double to left-center field before John Lemm walked two at-bats later. Both runners stole their respective bases on the same pitch in Jason Torres’ plate appearance, meaning that four of the first five batters of the game stole a base.

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Alabama has been exceptional on the basepaths, sitting at 30-for-30 on the season. Lebron, who swiped two bags on Wednesday, leads the team with 12. The junior had an up-and-down night, hitting his eighth home run of the season, but also committing an error at shortstop for the fourth consecutive game.

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“Get those things out of there now, baby. The dude is unbelievable,” an unconcerned Rob Vaughn said on Tuesday of Lebron’s errors. “We’re going to look up at the end of the year, and that guy is going to have five or six errors, which one he’s got right now, and we’ll be like, ‘Man, that guy is the best of all time to do it.’”

Wednesday’s game was a very prototypical midweek contest with no shortage of quirks and oddities throughout its nearly four-hour runtime. Fifteen Alabama batters were walked, falling just one shy of the program record, and the hit by pitch record was tied as seven batters were plunked.

The game was never competitive from an on-field standpoint. After barely escaping with a 2-1 win in the first matchup with the Hornets two weeks ago, this was a far more accurate representation of what these games typically look like, as Alabama now leads the all-time series 15-0.

Freshman Joe Chiarodo made his first career start, allowing two hits and one walk over two scoreless innings. He was named the winning pitcher. Luke Smyers, Connor Lehman, Anthony Pesci and Tate Robertson were the other pitchers to take the mound. Lehman allowed a three-run blast in the sixth inning, and those were the only runs until the incredibly-named Skywalker Mann drove in a run off Robertson in the ninth.

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Perhaps the most shocking figure from the game was that Alabama had 19 runners left on base. The Crimson Tide left the bases loaded in four different innings. As stated, this was just a bizarre baseball game across the board. With the midweeks out of the way, the Crimson Tide gets to prepare for its final weekend tune-up before SEC play as North Florida heads into Tuscaloosa on Friday.



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New Alabama law to set screen time limits for kids in day care, pre-K and kindergarten

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New Alabama law to set screen time limits for kids in day care, pre-K and kindergarten


The Healthy Early Development and Screen Time Act was signed on Wednesday, March 4, by Governor Kay Ivey to introduce limits on children’s screen time access in Alabama.

The Act is one of Ivey’s 2026 legislative priorities.

“Video screen access in classrooms can boost learning skills among our young children, but too much screen exposure can also be detrimental, harming critical social and cognitive development,” Ivey said. “The Healthy Early Development and Screen Time Act ensures our youngest students are provided a healthy balance of screen time and traditional learning in order to protect social and emotional development.”

Under the Healthy Early Development and Screen Time Act, the Alabama Department of Early Childhood Education will be required to work with the Department of Human Resources and the State Department of Education to develop guidelines for screen-based media.

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Guidelines will be implemented in early childhood education programs like day care centers, day care homes, night care facilities, pre-kindergarten, kindergarten and group day care homes. The Act was sponsored by Representative Jeana Ross and Senator Donnie Chesteen.

“House Bill 78 establishes clear, research-based expectations for how technology is used in early childhood settings,” said Ross. “The goal is not to eliminate technology, but to ensure its use is developmentally appropriate and never replaces the hands-on learning and human interaction young children need most. By setting thoughtful guardrails and aligning classroom practices with the best available research on early brain development, this legislation supports educators, protects the quality of early learning and reinforces our commitment to giving Alabama’s youngest students the strongest possible start.”

A training program will also be created by the Department of Early Childhood Education to create a baseline for the appropriate use of child screentime for teachers and staff members supervising children.

“The Healthy Early Development and Screen Time Act represents another important step in ensuring Alabama’s youngest children grow and learn in environments that prioritize human interaction, exploration and healthy development,” said Chesteen. “Building on the progress made with last year’s FOCUS Act, this legislation continues our commitment to protecting the most formative years of childhood. I am grateful to Governor Kay Ivey and my colleagues in the Legislature for recognizing the importance of this issue and working together to support Alabama families.”

The Healthy Early Development and Screen Time Act will become effective on January 1, 2027.

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