On Tuesday, Alabama men’s basketball traveled to Birmingham, Alabama, for SEC Media Days and the Tip-Off event for the college basketball season. Alabama head coach Nate Oats was asked several times about this year’s defense, where Oats made a shocking comparison for one of the Crimson Tide’s incoming freshmen.

 

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Davion Hannah was the No. 62 overall prospect in the 2025 recruiting class, ranking as the No. 11 shooting guard. The 6-foot-6, 190-pound guard signed with Alabama last November and enrolled at the Capstone in May. On Tuesday, Oats compared him to a former All-SEC defender in Herb Jones.

 

“Two of our freshmen perimeter guys can be elite defenders. I think Davion Hannah is maybe as good of a perimeter defender as this program has seen since maybe Herb Jones,” Oats said.”He’s elite. He moves. He’s 6’6″, athletic, tough, can guard one through four. Amari Allen is right there with him. 6’7″, competes, tough.”

 

The question was about backcourt defense and depth, which Alabama has struggled with over the last couple of seasons. Mark Sears, as strong as he was on the offensive side, was often found trailing on the defensive side of the ball. His counterpart for much of last season, Aden Holloway, also drew praise from Oats.

 

“Yeah, so back-court defense, I think significantly improved. Going into the year, you probably would have said, and rightfully so, that Holloway would have been a weak link defensively, particularly in the backcourt.

I think his defense has significantly improved. He’s doing a great job. He’s getting up in the guys, pressuring the ball. He understands as a smaller guard, he’s got to be a lot more of a pest. I think he’s doing it. He’s been good. He’s put on weight, is stronger, more physical. He’s always been super talented offensively. You got him playing a lot better.”

 

Alabama also returns its starting point guard from a season ago in the unexpected return of Labaron Philon, who had originally declared for the NBA draft.

 

“Labaron has stepped up his game defensively,” Oats said. “Wrightsell and Houston are both very smart, tough, competitive winners. Hard to be a winner if you’re not playing both sides of the ball. Those two are playing both sides of the ball.”

 

Alabama will get its first action of the 2025-26 men’s basketball season with Ballin’ in Boutwell this Thursday in Birmingham, Alabama. The Exhibition game is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.

 

Wyatt Fulton is the Tide 100.9 DME and Brand Manager, primarily covering Alabama Crimson Tide football and men’s basketball. For more Crimson Tide coverage, follow Wyatt on X (Formerly known as Twitter) at @FultonW_.

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