Alabama reached new heights last season by reaching the Final Four of the NCAA Tournament.Now the task is getting back to the pinnacle of the sport.The No. 2 Crimson Tide will start their path toward another standout season when they open against UNC Asheville on Monday night in Tuscaloosa, Ala.Alabama won four NCAA games while going 25-12 last season and sent top-seeded North Carolina packing in the Sweet 16. But once the Crimson Tide reached the Final Four, they were outclassed by another No. 1 seed in eventual champion UConn 86-72.Not surprisingly, Alabama coach Nate Oats is looking to minimize expectations this season.”When you’re in the program and talking to the team and everybody inside, last year has nothing to do with this year,” Oats said.The star attraction from last season is back — preseason first-team All-American and SEC Preseason Player of the Year Mark Sears.Sears averaged 21.5 points last season and set school single-season records of 797 points and 26 games with 20 or more points. The 6-foot-1 guard shot 43.6 percent from 3-point range, averaged 4.2 rebounds and 4.0 assists, and was a second-team All-American.Sears flirted with leaving for the NBA before staying put.”I seen the team that we had, and I wanted to be a part of it and bring home Alabama’s first national championship in basketball,” Sears said at SEC Media Days.Among the returners are 6-foot-11 Grant Nelson (11.9 points per game, 5.9 rebounds per game) and guard Latrell Wrightsell Jr. (8.9 ppg, 44.7 percent from 3-point range).A key newcomer is transfer center Clifford Omoruyi, who averaged 10.4 points, 8.3 rebounds and swatted away 93 shots for Rutgers. The Crimson Tide also landed two five-star McDonald’s All-Americans in forwards Derrion Reid and Aiden Sherrell.
Mark Sears, No. 2 Alabama to get started vs. UNC Asheville
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