History Not Favoring Bama Recruiting Classes

With the commitment of Charles Bediako, the Crimson Tide basketball team has ascended into the top-3 of 247Sports' Men's Basketball Recruiting Rankings for 2021. Bediako, a long and athletic big, joins JD Davison, Jusaun Holt, and Langston Wilson, as 2021 commitments for the Tide, further solidifying an already stellar class.

While basketball may still be fresh in many fans minds, and rightfully so, Nick Saban and the football program extended their continued success on the recruiting trail by also securing a top-3 recruiting class for 2021, according to 247Sports. With both programs locking up top ranked classes for the upcoming season, a new level of recruiting for Alabama has been reached, but just how good is that?

Impressive? Yes. Ideal? Maybe.

As we all know, following that 2007 class, Florida won the BCS title, beating Oklahoma 24-14, but was unable to find the same success with the excellent basketball recruits, making just one tournament appearance in the following four seasons and getting bounced in the first round. USC won the 2008 Rose Bowl, but was also unable to ever find success on the court with the 2007 class, making just one tournament appearance over the next four seasons and getting eliminated early.

LSU, unlike the other teams to achieve this feat, were able to find at least relative success on both the field and the court. The Tigers' incredible 2003 recruiting class went on to win a BCS title in 2007, and the basketball team made a Final Four trip in 2006, which while it doesn't necessarily compare to a national title, it was the program's last trip to the semifinals.

With a new age of Bama basketball on the horizon, questions must be asked:

Will we see Alabama fail to truly capitalize on high-level recruits for basketball like Florida, USC and LSU?

or

Will the Tide make its own history and win in both sports at a level never seen before?

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Obviously, the juggernaut that is the Crimson Tide football team isn't going anywhere, but I, for one, believe that Alabama has barely reached the peak of what it can achieve in basketball with Nate Oats at the helm. This season was just a glimpse of what is to come for this basketball program, and with a influx of big-time recruits, the team will only improve.

Nate Oats has turned Alabama into a program that appeals to nearly every recruit coming out of high school with an extremely fast-paced, NBA-style of basketball and elite level defense. Victories are just around the corner for a program and fanbase that has been starved for success in recent years before Oats arrival, and the 2021 class is only the beginning.