Basketball National Signing Day

Two weeks from today, the 2020-21 Alabama basketball season will begin, as the Crimson Tide play host to Jacksonville State in Tuscaloosa. This will be the most highly anticipated season for Tide Hoops in a very long time, even eclipsing the hype for the 2018 season that we enjoyed a few years back. With Nate Oats rolling, it’s an extremely exciting time to be an Alabama basketball fan.

I’ll get to this upcoming season in a later post, though. Today’s focus is on the even more highly anticipated 2022 season, as it marks the first day that 2021 recruits can sign their Letters of Intent (LOI). In other words, today is National Signing Day in college basketball!

Ok, well, it’s not as exciting as it would be in football. Today is technically only the start of the signing period for basketball, which will run through August 1st, 2021. So, don’t expect there to be a camera set up on a fax machine in the athletic department today. Basketball used to have an early signing period that lasted a few weeks in November, took a break for the holidays and the season itself, and then opened up a late signing period in the Spring. However, the NCAA changed that rule last year, opting instead for one continuous signing period.

So, again, don’t expect there to be a flood of recruits filing in today. However, we have received one LOI already:

Langston Wilson is considered by many to be the top JUCO prospect in the country. He is a highly rated four-star that has an amazing story behind him. At 6’9 with incredible bounce and the ability to both handle and shoot the ball, he’s going to be a star at Alabama, provided he remains physically able to play.

Oats and company have already received two other verbal commitments for this class, of course: the number one Point Guard in the country, J.D. Davison, and a very good four-star wing, Jusuan Holt. Both of these guys can seriously ball, and the Tide’s coaching staff will be eagerly awaiting their LOIs in the coming weeks.

Tide Hoops fans are going to be blown away with this stellar class that Oats is putting together. Currently ranked 13th in the country in the 247 composite, the Tide is looking to finish in the top five overall. ‘Bama has become the odds-on favorite to land five-star big, Charles Bediako, especially now that Michigan, one of the main contenders for his services, has signed fellow five-star big, Moussa Diabate.

(Bonus Keon Ambrose highlights!)

Oats and staff, specifically Bryan Hodgson and Antoine Pettway, have cast a wide net looking for quality players. Another to keep an eye on is four-star combo guard, Wesley Cardet, from Orlando, FL.

The darker times of the past 15 or so years mired in mediocrity on the hardwood are soon to be behind us. Nate Oats and his staff are putting together something special in Tuscaloosa, as Tide Hoops appears to be on its long awaited return to the top of the SEC. It all starts on days like today in recruiting, and (forgive the mixed sports metaphors) the staff has absolutely knocked it out of the park thus far.

Keep an eye out for more LOIs and commitments to come in the weeks that follow, jump on the Tide Hoops bandwagon while there is still space, and get ready for great times ahead.

And let’s build Oats that new arena!