Nate Oats and the Alabama Crimson Tide are losing a very important part of their basketball team Friday when it was announced that Rylan Griffen decided to enter the transfer portal.
The sophomore from Dallas, Texas has played for the Tide for the last two seasons and started 33 out of 36 games this season.
He averaged 11.2 points per game to go with 3.4 rebounds and 1.9 assists and shot nearly 40 percent from the three-point line.
Just over a week ago, Griffen praised head coach Nate Oats and called him the G.O.A.T.
“He’s the GOAT, in my opinion. He hasn’t got a Natty yet but trust me, he’ll get a Natty. He’s the GOAT, seriously. Everybody’s gonna think that’s a hot take…there are a lot of good coaches out there but he’s unique. He finds a way to win.”
Griffen along with Mark Sears, were the only players left after several Bama players either left in the transfer portal or went to the NBA, so it’s a shock to see Griffen deciding to leave the team after being one of the leaders of this team this past season.
Griffen has become the third player on the Tide’s roster to enter the transfer portal. He joins walk-on Max Scharnowski and guard Kris Parker as he other two.
The only senior on this year’s team was transfer Aaron Estrada. No word yet on what Mark Sears or forward Grant Nelson, who also is a transfer, plans to do.
About Stacey Mickles
Stacey is a 1995 graduate of the University of Alabama who has previously worked for other publications such as Sportskeeda and Saturday Down South.