Alabama
Jacksonville State
No. 25 Alabama Opens 2020-21 Season Wednesday Night versus Jacksonville State
11/24/2020 9:58:00 AM | Men's Basketball
The Crimson Tide and Gamecocks set to tip off at 7 p.m. CT on SEC Network
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The second year of the "Ball and Oats" era gets underway on Wednesday night when the Alabama men's basketball team takes on Jacksonville State at 7 p.m. CT on SEC Network in the season opener for both teams. The Crimson Tide enters the 2020-21 season ranked No. 25 in the preseason USA Today Coaches Poll and No. 29 (50 votes) in the preseason Associated Press Top-25.
It's the first time the Crimson Tide will open the campaign among the nation's top-25 teams since the 2017-18 campaign. In addition to being recognized in both the AP and Coaches polls, Alabama was also ranked in the preseason top 25 by Blue Ribbon Basketball Yearbook (No. 14), Dick Vitale (No. 17) and Jeff Goodman's Stadium (No. 18) polls.
Alabama returns four starters and seven letterwinners for the 2020-21 season, while also welcoming a total of nine newcomers. The nine newcomers include four freshmen, two transfers and three players who return to the lineup after being forced to miss the 2020-21 season.
The Broadcast
- Wednesday's game will be televised on SEC Network with Courtney Lyle (play-by-play) and Dane Bradshaw (analyst) on the call.
- The radio broadcast can be heard on the Crimson Tide Sports Network with Chris Stewart (play-by-play), Bryan Passink (analyst) and Roger Hoover (sideline) on the call. The pregame show will begin one hour prior to tipoff.
About Alabama
- Despite losing starting point guard Kira Lewis Jr. to the 2020 NBA Draft as the No. 13 overall draft pick (New Orleans Pelicans), excitement remains high as the Alabama men's basketball team enters the 2020-21 campaign.
- Alabama will bring back the SEC's top two returning scorers from a year ago in Jaden Shackelford (15.0 ppg) and John Petty Jr. (14.5 ppg). The duo combined to score 29.5 points per contest last season.
- Of the four returning starters, three were named as All-SEC performers. Senior John Petty Jr. leads the way as he averaged 14.5 points and a team-leading 6.6 rebounds per game. After testing the NBA waters, Petty announced his return to the team in early August after he proved to be one of the most lethal three-point shooters in the nation, knocking down 85 threes last season. He also topped the SEC in three-point field goal percentage (44.0 percent, 85-of-193) on his way to earning second team All-SEC honors.
- Senior Herbert Jones is back and healthy after earning a spot on the SEC All-Defensive team and making a name for himself as one of the top defensive players in the NCAA. Meanwhile, sophomore Jaden Shackelford, who led the SEC in three-pointers made (55) during league play, returns after bursting onto the scene last season to garner SEC All-Freshman team accolades. Senior Alex Reese returns after establishing personal career bests in nearly every category last season, including leading the team in blocked shots (1.0 bpg), ranking third rebounding (4.8 rpg) and fourth in scoring (8.8 ppg) and three-pointers made (51).
- In addition to the returnees, Alabama welcomes six scholarship signees, five of which made up the nation's ninth-ranked signing class according to Rivals.com and the No. 12 overall by 247sports.com. The Crimson Tide signees include Keon Ambrose-Hylton (Toronto, Ontario/Andrews Osborne Academy [Ohio]), Keon Ellis (Fort Myers, Fla./Florida SW State), Darius Miles (Washington, D.C./IMG Academy), Josh Primo (Toronto, Ontario/Royal Crown International) and Alex Tchikou (Paris, France/Dream City Christian HS).
- The team recruiting rankings do not include another new addition in graduate transfer Jordan Bruner. Last season at Yale, Bruner earned First Team All-Ivy League honors after leading the conference in rebounds per game (9.2) and ranking fourth in assists (3.8 apg) and third in blocked shots (1.7 bpg) while adding 10.9 points per contest.
- Head coach Nate Oats is in his second season at the helm of the Crimson Tide program. After finishing last season at 16-15 overall, Oats, who is in his sixth season as a collegiate head coach, owns a career record of 112-58 (.659).
About Jacksonville State
- Jacksonville State returns one starter and four letterwinners while welcoming 11 newcomers to the 2020-21 squad. The Gamecocks are coming off a 13-19 record last season, including an 8-10 finish in the Ohio Valley Conference. JSU was picked to finish seventh in the conference by the league's coaches and sports information directors prior to the season.
- The 15-man Gamecocks' roster features four returnees and 11 newcomers – only four of which are freshmen. Senior Kayne Henry is the lone returning starter and is the team's top returning scorer (10.9 ppg) and rebounder (6.9 rpg) from last season. Senior Martin Roub, junior Maros Zeliznak and sophomore Juwan Perdue each recorded minutes in a JSU jersey last year. The list of new Gamecocks includes a graduate, senior and sophomore transfer, four junior transfers and four freshmen.
- The newcomers include three transfers who each received waivers to play immediately for the Gamecocks. Forwards Brandon Huffman, a senior transfer from North Carolina, and Amanze Ngumezi, a junior transfer from Georgia, along with guard Darian Adams, a grad transfer, are all expected to make their debut for the Gamecocks this season.
- Harper also added experience with four junior college transfers in Khalil Johnson (Shelton State CC), Jalen Finch (Florida SouthWestern State) – college teammate of current Alabama guard Keon Ellis – Demaree King (Northern Oklahoma-Tonkawa and Jay Pal (Claredon College).
- Ray Harper was hired on April 6, 2016 as the program's 11th head coach and the fifth to run the Gamecocks at the Division-I level. A veteran coach of 20 seasons, Harper boasts an overall record of 511-183, with a .736 winning percentage that represents the highest of all Ohio Valley Conference coaches, and a 80-56 (.588) overall mark in four seasons as head coach at Jacksonville State.
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