Nate Oats praises Jalil Bethea’s attitude, work ethic: ‘His effort has been elite’
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Nate Oats has a lot of standout players who start for his 17th-ranked Alabama team, players who have been instrumental in helping the Crimson Tide reel off 6 straight wins in their February surge up the SEC standings.
Sophomore guard Jalil Bethea isn’t one of those high-profile players. The transfer from Miami has played in 18 games this season and started none of them. He’s averaging just 8.7 minutes per contest but has managed to make them count, something the Crimson Tide head coach appreciated during his comments to reporters on Tuesday in the leadup to Wednesday night’s home SEC matchup against Mississippi State (9 p.m. ET, ESPNU).
“His attitude has been unbelievably great. … All the decision-making, he missed so many reps in the offseason and that’s what we do,” Oats said of the Philadelphia native. “He’s getting better. His effort has been elite. I think he’s playing super hard.”
After starting 16 of 31 games last season at Miami, Bethea has settled into his bench role at Alabama this season. In 18 games, Bethea is averaging 4.8 points, 1.8 rebounds and 0.6 assists per contest. Last season with the Hurricanes, Bethea averaged 7.1 points, 2.1 rebounds and 1.2 assists before deciding to head elsewhere for the 2025-26 season.
Oats is thankful that Bethea landed at Alabama, as he’s become an instrumental part of the Crimson Tide bench. Bethea will try to keep his individual surge going while helping Bama keep its team surge going, too, on Wednesday night against the Bulldogs.
Here are Kalshi’s odds for Wednesday night’s SEC showdown in Tuscaloosa between Mississippi State and Alabama, with the 17th-ranked Crimson Tide getting a 94% chance to hold serve at home and run their winning streak to 7 games:
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
