Jumbo Package: Alabama Basketball adds a 7-footer for 2026
NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos...
The hoops team got some good news yesterday, with Nate Oats securing a late summer addition at center:
Alabama basketball has made a late addition to its 2026-27 roster in TJ St. Louis, per Rivals’ Joe Tipton.
St. Louis, who is from Ontario, Canada, stands at seven feet and 266 pounds with a 7-foot-5 wingspan and a 9-foot-5 standing reach. He’ll provide frontcourt depth for head coach Nate Oats, as St. Louis is the sixth player on the Crimson Tide’s roster who is at least 6-foot-10. St. Louis is the only 7-footer, making him the tallest player on the team.
A 7’0” 266 big man is certainly big. Hailing from Canada (and the NBA Academy Latin Americo in Mexico before that), TJ St. Louis somehow slipped under the radar of the recruiting services and was never evaluated or ranked. He may be a longshot, but the Tide has a freshman to develop with a very unteachable 7’0” height.
Texas A&M Aggies
Can a first-time playcaller elevate Marcel Reed and keep the Aggies rolling?
Collin Klein departed for the Kansas State head coaching job in the offseason, and coach Mike Elko opted to promote receivers coach Holmon Wiggins to the coordinator position. It’ll be his first time calling plays, and he takes over an offense that must be better to achieve Texas A&M’s long-term goals.
Reed has been the ultimate boom or bust quarterback in college so far. He was excellent as the Aggies won their first 11 games in 2025, then hard to watch at times as they dropped the final two. Wiggins will be under the microscope.
Holman Wiggins was with Alabama for 5 years from 2019 to 2023, and the Tide seemed to slowly degrade at the wide receiver position each year that he was in charge of the group. We’ll see how it goes, but I’m not particularly hopeful for the Aggies that this was the right move for them.
This matchup is part of a four-game gauntlet for Alabama. A week earlier, the Crimson Tide will host Georgia. After Tennessee, they entertain Texas A&M and then, after an open date, venture to Baton Rouge to play LSU.
By Nov. 7, Alabama will know if it’s destined for the College Football Playoffs by the way it handles this stretch of four games.
While Tennessee is fortunate to play Arkansas before this game, the Crimson Tide will have to deal with either the emotional high or low that goes with the outcome of the Georgia game.
The Volunteers couldn’t ask for a better setup with the schedule.
No matter how the Georgia game goes, this could be a trap for ‘Bama.
PREDICTION: Tennessee 27, Alabama 24
Man, that stretch of games is rough. And the Vols writers are already liking their chops about it. Hope they don’t get bit by Arkansas! That’s definitely not a trap game.
Is anyone emerging on Alabama’s offensive line?
There is no secret that the offensive lineman turnover for Alabama this offseason has been significant, losing four-of-five starters from a year ago to either the NFL or exhausted eligibility. With only one starter returning in Michael Carroll, it will be interesting to see if DeBoer mentions anyone as having emerged at a starting spot, similar to how offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb talked about left tackle Jackson Lloyd back in the spring.
Look, if we’ve learned anything about Kalen DeBoer to this point, it’s that he’s not going to give us any good info and just shroud everything in coachspeak.
But the three players coming to media days? Now they might say something. I’m sure they won’t say anything too forward, but might one of them list off a handful of OL who have been impressing, and then we can start piecing things together to guess who might be starters?
At this point, it seems like the top 5 are Jackson Lloyd, Will Sanders, Racin Delgatty, Michael Carroll, and Jayvin James. And man, if we have the whole group already settled, outside of maybe someone challenging James, and don’t have to endlessly shuffle all season like the last two years, then I’ll consider that a major win for 2026.
Rivals unveiled its newest update to the Rivals300 rankings a week ago, updating the rankings of the 2027 class across the country. One of the biggest risers in the rankings was Alabama commit Osani Gayles, who went from No. 111 to No. 73 overall, a 38-spot jump.
That marked the largest increase in rankings for any of Alabama’s 14 commitments in the 2027 class, and one of the highest jumps for any prospect in the class at all.
The #BamaBump lives!
Gayles is now a 5-star by the 247Sports Composite. ESPN and 247 both have him as a top-35 player, while Rivals is still a little behind them, even with the big jump last week. The Tide may not have a big recruiting class in 2027, but they are one of only two teams with a 5-star QB and a 5-star WR committed (Miami is the other).
More at NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos