Nate Oats views Jarin Stevenson as potential X-factor in matchup with Duke

NEWARK, N.J. — It’s going to be all hands on deck for Alabama in an extremely difficult matchup with 1-seed Duke in the Elite Eight.

The Crimson Tide is an extremely talented team, but the Blue Devils will be one of the best teams it’s faced all season. Duke currently ranks No. 1 in KenPom by a sizeable margin, boasting the No. 1 offense and No. 5 defense in the country.

Alabama head coach Nate Oats believes Jarin Stevenson — one of the heroes from last season’s Elite Eight win over Clemson — could be a player to step up tomorrow night.

“I was just talking to somebody about that earlier today,” Oats said. “He didn’t playing particularly well in the Sweet 16 game last year against North Carolina. I was hoping he would play great. He’s from Chapel Hill, would have been a great story, but wasn’t meant to be that way.

“Just encouraged him, he comes out, he goes 5 of 8 from three and scores 19 points as a freshman. That’s — Jarin was supposed to be a senior in high school, supposed to be freshman year in college. So last year as a kid that’s supposed to be a senior in high school, he scores 19 in an Elite 8 game to send us to our first Final Four in school history.”

Stevenson struggled entering the Elite Eight a season ago, much like he’s done this season. He scored nine total points through Alabama’s first three games of the 2024 NCAA Tournament, while this year it’s been just six — two points in each game.

Oats maintains the belief that Stevenson is ready for the moment, and could come alive at any time.

“I don’t think he’s afraid of the moment at all,” Oats said. “Has he struggled a little bit? Yeah. He’s a pretty quiet kid and he’s gone through some slumps as any players do. Shoot, some of the best NBA players go through shooting slumps. I think he’s more than capable of going 5 of 8 again or doing something great. We’re going to need him to be great.”

Stevenson has been particularly good this year on the defensive end despite his offensive struggles at times. His 6-foot-10 frame and increased activity defensively has made him a versatile force to deploy on guards and wings, and Oats knows his length will be important against a long Duke team.

“Duke has got size everywhere,” Oats said. “His athleticism to guard — I’m guessing maybe you watched our game when we played at Carolina earlier this year. He did as good a job as anybody on RJ Davis when we beat Carolina at Carolina. He’s capable of being one of the elite two-way guys in the country with his shooting ability, his finishing, his strength, his athleticism on offense, and then how he can guard guys.”

Oats clearly sees a lot in Stevenson, more than he thinks Stevenson even sees in himself. In order to get that out, Oats believes he just needs to keep on pumping him up.

“We just need to keep pumping him full of confidence,” Oats said. “He’s a kid that he doesn’t even know how good he is. When you talk to him, he has no idea. I mean, I think he should be a long-time NBA player. We’ve just got to realize he’s young and pump him full of confidence and get him going because he could be an X-factor for us for sure.”

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