Over the past few weeks, Alabama basketball has had no shortage of four- and five-star prospects filing in and out of Tuscaloosa.
How has the Crimson Tide fared in the recruiting race since 2026 guys Cole Cloer and Caleb Holt have set foot on campus?
According to recruiting insiders, not too bad but there’s still work to be done if head coach Nate Oats and assistant Preston Murphy want to add the two, among others, to the next roster.
Jamie Shaw of Rivals ranked Cloer’s top landing spots in order of intel he’d received after the small forward from North Carolina finalized his final five on Wednesday, Sept. 24.
According to Shaw, Will Wade is winning over Cloer at this point, receiving some help from the fact Cloer grew up a fan of NC State. Next was UConn, which Cloer visited the weekend before his trip to Alabama. Then there was the Crimson Tide and national champion Florida tied for third. Shaw said that while the two were “stylistic fits,” it seems as though “other programs are being talked about more prominently at this point.”
The outlook for Holt, on the other hand, is much more positive.
It’s not a major surprise given he’s the top shooting guard in the country, but sources have shared with the Tuscaloosa News that Holt is a high priority for Alabama. Recently, On3’s Joe Tipton reported he’s watching Oats and the Crimson Tide “the closest” out of the programs recruiting Holt, but added that Mark Pope and Kentucky are “right there.”
Since moving up his official visit to Alabama to September 12, Holt has visited Providence with upcoming visits to Arizona and Auburn still ahead in October. He’ll play his senior year at Prolific Prep in Florida after spending his junior season at Grayson High in Georgia, where he transferred following his first two varsity seasons at Buckhorn High.
Which 2026 recruits have already committed to Alabama basketball?
Alabama has two commits in its 2026 recruiting class in forward Chris Washington Jr. and guard Tarris Bouie. The two four-stars alone make up the nation’s No. 6 recruiting class.
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Emilee Smarr covers Alabama basketball and Crimson Tide athletics for the Tuscaloosa News. She can be reached via email at esmarr@gannett.com.