Alabama sophomore Amari Allen is in prime position for a breakout year throughout his second season in Tuscaloosa.
Standing at 6-foot-6 and 215 pounds, Allen is a dynamic playmaker that emerged as a rising star in the Tide’s front court across the 2025-26’ season. Allen was a small forward throughout the majority of his freshman campaign last year, but the sophomore is now set to play a massive role on both ends of the floor as a guard in year two.
Alabama head coach Nate Oats took a moment to comment on Allen’s role this season prior to Tuesday’s opener, as Oats claims his decision to return this offseason will ultimately be massive in the long run.
“I think for us it’s huge. He’s going to be one of the best players in the country when him and Holloway are able to play together.” Oats said. “The past couple of days or at least yesterday at practice, I put those guys kind of as our two point guards with Anderson out. They looked great together, they feed off of each other well, they pass the ball great. Getting him back, he was our starting four last at the end of year which was part of our rebounding problem. Now that we can play him at the one, it really helps with sizing and everything. Great we got him back, I think the feedback from the NBA is very helpful because he’s a guy that’s constantly in the gym. He’s a guy that takes feedback, takes whatever it is from people he respects and he works on it. I mean, he’s gotten even better than he was last spring when he was going through the pre-draft process. I think he’ll get better through the course of the year because he really focuses, watches video, asks questions, meets with the coaches. I just left from our practice gym and him and Anderson are the only two guys in there shooting right now. I expect him to continue to get better, but it’s great having one of the best players in the country on your team.”
Allen averaged 11.4 points and 6.9 rebounds as a freshman at Alabama last season. The star sophomore struggled over the final month of the year, but Allen appears to have taken a massive leap this offseason and will look to establish himself as Oats’ next superstar across 2026.
