Sadly: Kentuckys’ Jaxson Robinson finally made his NBA choice of returning to college.

Next season, Kentucky and every other team in the SEC will have to deal with Alabama. To what extent is the Crimson Tide anticipated to make an impact on the collegiate basketball landscape nationally? We will soon find out.

Jaxson Robinson, the top scorer for BYU last season and a potential commit to Kentucky if he decides to return to college, will make one more decision before this week’s NBA draft deadline, which Mark Pope and the UK coaching staff will be closely watching. and just college hoops in general. Mark Sears, an Alabama guard, has until Wednesday at 11:59 p.m. to decide whether or not to declare for the draft. He has the option to forfeit his fifth and final season of NCAA eligibility in order to remain in the draft pool. Alternatively, he might want to return to the school for one final run in Tuscaloosa.

In the event that he chooses the latter, Sears could potentially overtake Bama in the national rankings.

And he is aware of it. As one of the players in attendance who had not made a final decision on his basketball future, the 22-year-old was asked a lot of questions about his future plans while at the NBA combine in Chicago this month with other draft prospects. Last season, Sears was among the greatest players in the SEC. He led Alabama in scoring with 21.5 points per game, which ranked 11th nationally, and he also assisted the Crimson Tide in making it to their first-ever Final Four before losing to eventual NCAA champion UConn in the national semifinals.

College basketball analysts anticipate that Alabama will have a similar season next year. According to ESPN’s current top-25 rankings for the 2024–25 season, the Tide are ranked sixth nationwide. Alabama is ranked ninth in the nation by CBS Sports’ top-25 ranking. The Crimson Tide are the highest ranked SEC club in both scenarios. At the combine, Sears was asked whether he knew what Bama was planning to bring back.

“Yes,” he answered, as though anticipating the following query. He was then questioned on the speculation that the Crimson Tide would very well begin the 2024–25 season at #1 in the country if Sears were to return. He smiled. Indeed, Sears replied.

Thus, Sears declared, “I’m all in on this process, and I’m still enjoying it.” “I still haven’t chosen a choice.” Sears is still unsure two weeks later. You won’t know anything for sure until Wednesday night.

The most likely scenario is that Sears will push this decision as far as he can in the hopes of receiving the feedback he wants to hear, as Oats stated last week at an Alabama NIL event. Sears still has some late workouts scheduled with NBA teams, including one with the Milwaukee Bucks on Wednesday.

He obviously wants to play in the NBA, according to Oats. We have informed him that he will receive a contract guarantee if he receives positive comments. And he remains in the draft while all of us are content. He has already earned his college degree and fulfilled his lifetime dream of becoming an NBA player. I believe he will return here and we will aim to win a national championship with him if we feel that this is more of a two-way pact.In any case, we’re in a terrific place, and he’s in a great one.

THE NBA DRAFT DECISION OF MARK SEARS Sears provided a rather explicit description of what he is searching for in the predraft phase. He said, “I’m just trying to see if I can get a guarantee.” “In the first round, or sometime in the early to mid second round, something is guaranteed. Only someplace that can provide a guarantee.
That seems not to be a given. ESPN’s most recent mock draft of the NBA featured no mentions of Sears, who is now ranked as the 79th overall prospect in this year’s pool. The 2024 draft will include a total of just 58 picks.

Sears is also entirely absent from The Athletic’s most recent mock draft. In the meanwhile, Sears is slated to be selected by the Bucks with the 33rd overall pick in the most recent draft list from The Ringer. It should come as no surprise that the Bucks are the team that will host Sears for his last workout on deadline day.

On the basketball floor, Sears’ brilliance is undeniable. He was one of just three players in the conference to average more than 20 points per game, and he was the second-leading scorer in the SEC, trailing only Dalton Knecht of Tennessee, who was named the league’s player of the year and a projected lottery choice. The other was Antonio Reeves of the UK. In addition, Sears averaged 4.2 rebounds, 4.0 assists, and 1.6 steals per game while making 95 3-pointers at a rate of 43.6%. And there was all the winning, of course.

Following his freshman and sophomore seasons at Ohio, Sears transferred to Alabama, where he quickly established himself as the team’s second-leading scorer. He helped the Tide win the SEC regular season and tournament crowns, as well as the top seed in the NCAA Tournament. He was the team’s obvious leader during the previous season, which saw Alabama win its first Final Four trophy and become the first SEC program to reach the semifinals in five years. NBA scouts want to see if Sears’ size will allow him to play at that level.

He stood 5 feet 10 inches (without shoes) tall at the combine, with a wingspan of 6-2 and a standing reach of 7-8. His stats were the lowest in all three categories, with 77 NBA draft prospects present.
Sears did point to Jalen Brunson’s recent success in the NBA as proof that front-office decision-makers should take a risk on him and a reason to believe he could fit in well in the league.

Former Villanova standout Brunson has emerged as a true star for the New York Knicks, helping them reach the Eastern Conference playoffs this season and being named to the All-NBA second team, which ranks him among the league’s top 10 players. Sears remarked, “I’d say his success definitely helps what I do.” “His success right now is definitely helping me out. Kind of similar player types coming out of college — kind of a similar build.”