Nate Oats addresses Mark Sears Benching, status of Mississippi State

On January 30, 2025By Littum

Alabama Basketball star Mark Sears is not a lock to start against Mississippi State in a top-15 match on the hardwood.

Crimson Tide Coach Nate Oats Said he had not decided on his starting lineup after the sixth -year coach benched his star in the second half of a win over LSU on Saturday. No. 4 Alabama (17-3, 6-1 sec) takes on No. 13 Bulldogs (16-4, 4-3) in Starkville, Mississippi on Wednesday.

Oat bench Sears and Center Cliff Omoruyi to start the second half against Tigers. However, Omoruyi eventually returned and impressed oats with his efforts. Sears did not log for a few minutes in the second half.

“I don’t know who we should start. I haven’t decided,” Oats said under media availability Tuesday. “I didn’t mean to avoid your question earlier, but I don’t really know who will start this game.”

Sears helped Alabama reach the last four for the first time in the program history last season. The possible champion Uconn eventually knocked out Crimson Tide out. Sears, who returned to his last season of eligibility this year, is an average of 18.1 points per year. Match of 39.6% shooting.

However, he went scoreless on 0-for-5 shooting from the field with three assists and two turnover in 17 minutes against Tigers. At the break, with the scoring tied to 40-40, and oats made its lineup adjustments for the second half.

In his accessibility on Tuesday, Oats continued to say that Sears “definitely had the best two days going into a game he had had all year,” suggested his decision to bench him resonate with his star.

“It was Mark and Cliff,” Oats said. “For various reasons, Cliff got the opportunity to come and play. But I think the message is sent and that is the message we are trying to send all our decisions is that there is no one over the program, including the head coach. “

Continued oats:

“Getting the best version to get the best version of Mark Sears is what’s best for this team, for this program, and that’s what we plan to move on.”