Mark Sears was a Naismith Player of the Year semifinalist, and the former Alabama guard is working to showcase himself at a high level ahead of the 2025 NBA draft.
Sears was a consensus first-team All-American, averaging 18.6 points, 5.1 assists and 2.9 rebounds on 34.5% shooting from 3-point range in 37 games. His 690 total points ranked fourth-most in a single season in program history.
The 6-foot standout is projected to be a second-round pick after establishing himself as one of the top guards in the country. He wants to show he can do more than just score and is using feedback from teams to improve over this process.
“They want to constantly see me do things that are not going to show up on the stat sheet so that is what I’m doing,” Sears said Monday, via Sean Cunningham of KCRA-TV. “I’m trying to show that I can guard bigger players, I can defend at a high level — doing stuff that doesn’t require scoring the ball.”
Sears left college ranked 19th in all-time career scoring with 2,841 points, having spent two years at Ohio and three at Alabama. He set the Crimson Tide records for points (232), wins (9) and games played (11) in the NCAA Tournament.
The 23-year-old helped Alabama advance to the Elite Eight in each of the past two seasons, the only team to accomplish that feat over that span. He was the West Region Most Outstanding Player and set a program record with 10 3-pointers in a win over BYU on March 27.
Sears is on the verge of joining a growing list of Alabama players drafted to the NBA. He believes his time in Tuscaloosa helped prepare him for that opportunity.
“I feel like they set me up great for this opportunity I’m going through,” Sears said. “We played very similar to the NBA style. What Coach (Nate) Oats has going is very high level, and I feel that is going to be a great transformation for me in the league.”