Former Alabama basketball player returns to SEC school after latest transfer portal stint
A former Alabama basketball player from the Crimson Tide's 2024 run to the Final Four is heading back to the SEC after one season in Ann Arbor with the Michigan Wolverines.
Sam Walters, who averaged 12.3 minutes with 5.4 points and 2.4 rebounds per game with Nate Oats' Crimson Tide in 2023-24, is joining Mississippi State and coach Chris Jans. Walters made the announcement Thursday.
Advertisement
The 6-foot-10 forward averaged 12.7 minutes for Michigan in 2024-25 and suffered a season-ending back injury in February. Walters averaged five points and 1.6 rebounds a night in 23 games with coach Dusty May's Wolverines.
As a freshman at Alabama, Walters played 15 minutes in the Tide's 89-87 upset of No. 1 seed North Carolina in the Sweet 16 and 12 minutes in their 89-82 win over Clemson in the Elite Eight. He played in 37 games (no starts) his freshman season and finished in double figures seven times.
Walters was a 4-star recruit out of Villages Charter School in Florida that committed to Alabama as the first signee in Oats' 2023 recruiting class. He was ranked the No. 68 overall recruit by On3.
Mississippi State, which recently lost leading big man KeShawn Murphy (7.4 RPG) to Bruce Pearl and the Auburn Tigers in the transfer portal, finished 21-13 last season and was 8-10 in SEC play. The Bulldogs reached the NCAA Tournament as a No. 8 season and fell to Baylor in the first round of March Madness, 75-72.
Contact/Follow us @RollTideWire on X, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Alabama news, notes and opinion.
This article originally appeared on Roll Tide Wire: Sam Walters returning to SEC after entering transfer portal
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Fox Sports
39 minutes ago
- Fox Sports
Former Villanova coach Jay Wright not interested in Knicks head coach job
Jay Wright will not be the next head coach of the New York Knicks. The former Villanova men's basketball head coach has informed the Knicks that he's not interested in succeeding Tom Thibodeau and will remain retired, he told Sports Illustrated. Wright added in his comments to Sports Illustrated that he and Knicks president Leon Rose briefly discussed the position. Even though he and Rose are good friends, Wright reiterated his plans to remain retired as he never asked to interview for the vacancy. In the moments after Thibodeau was fired, Wright was immediately viewed as a top candidate to replace him. He coached three of the Knicks' top players in college, winning multiple national championships with guard Jalen Brunson and forward Mikal Bridges. He also won a national title coaching wing Josh Hart. However, some insiders viewed the Knicks' chances at obtaining the two-time national championship-winning head coach as a bit of a long shot. "Jay Wright is enjoying red wine, basketball, television and his family," FOX Sports college basketball expert John Fanta recently said on "The Herd." "If he wanted to coach again, he'd be the Villanova coach. "Jay Wright is not going anywhere." Wright, 63, announced his retirement from Villanova after leading the Wildcats to the Final Four in 2022. That marked his fourth Final Four trip as Villanova's head coach, winning eight Big East regular-season titles and five Big East Tournament titles to go with his two national championship victories. Wright is one of multiple coaches with Big East ties who have said they don't plan to pursue the Knicks' head coach gig. St. John's coach Rick Pitino, who coached the Knicks for two seasons in the late 1980s, said he was "absolutely not" interested in becoming New York's next head coach. UConn's Dan Hurley, meanwhile, sidestepped a question about his possible interest in the job. In addition to those three, a pair of other rumored Knicks candidates seem unlikely to interview for the job. New York has reportedly expressed interest in Houston Rockets coach Ime Udoka and Dallas Mavericks coach Jason Kidd. But after capturing the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference during the 2024-25 season, the Rockets aren't interested in letting the Knicks potentially negotiate a deal and trade involving Udoka, per The Athletic . As for Kidd, the Knicks reportedly planned to ask the Mavericks for permission to interview their head coach. However, the Mavericks are expected to turn down any request the Knicks make to interview Kidd, longtime NBA insider Marc Stein reported Saturday. Beyond those five candidates, former Denver Nuggets coach Michael Malone and current Cleveland Cavaliers associate head coach Johnnie Bryant have been viewed as possibilities for the Knicks' head coach job. Bryant is the current betting favorite for the job, while Malone has the second-best odds, via DraftKings Sportsbook. Bryant, who was the Knicks' associate head coach from 2020-24, was one of the finalists for the Phoenix Suns' head coach vacancy, but they named fellow Cavaliers assistant Jordan Ott as their next head coach on Friday. Malone, who grew up near Madison Square Garden in Queens, was fired by the Nuggets with less than a week to go in the regular season. Want great stories delivered right to your inbox? Create or log in to your FOX Sports account, follow leagues, teams and players to receive a personalized newsletter daily ! recommended Get more from National Basketball Association Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more
Yahoo
42 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Ten amazing pictures of huge cycling event across Glasgow
An exciting cycling competition took over Glasgow with dozens of athletes participating. City centre roads closed for the Lloyds Tour of Britain Women as a huge crowd gathered to watch. Following a thrilling race, Ally Wollaston sealed the title by the narrowest of margins ahead of Cat Ferguson. Advertisement Speaking on her victory, she said: 'I am feeling very overwhelmed, it is so exciting and it really couldn't have gone any better for me today. I was lucky that there were a lot of seconds up for grabs. "The plan was to get as many seconds as I could, and unfortunately, Cat was on my wheel for every single one, so it really came down to the last sprint. 'The team were so amazing today, I really couldn't have done it without them. I'm just so grateful for the work that they did. I couldn't be happier in this team, so I am very grateful for the support I have received over the last four days. 'Mum and Dad will be a bit shocked, I imagine. I called them last night and said that the plan was to go for all three bonus sprints, and I said Cat will probably be thinking the same thing! I think they will be super proud back home.' Advertisement Here are ten wonderful pictures of the event. READ NEXT: Hotel near SEC to get whole new look after refurb (Image: (Image: (Image: (Image: (Image: (Image: (Image: (Image: (Image: (Image:
USA Today
4 hours ago
- USA Today
Auburn basketball jumps in ESPN's preseason rankings following Tahaad Pettiford's decision
Auburn basketball jumps in ESPN's preseason rankings following Tahaad Pettiford's decision ESPN's Jeff Borzello feels that Auburn will be a strong squad with Tahaad Pettiford in its lineup. In a world without Tahaad Pettiford, the Auburn Tigers looked primed to take a major step back from the success of a Final Four season in 2024-2025. With the sophomore sharpshooter back on board after withdrawing his name from the NBA Draft, Bruce Pearl's team is now talented enough to strive towards replicating last year's run. Many experts across the college basketball world agree, as the Tigers have jumped up early rankings after the news last season's fantastic freshman would "run it back" in 2025-26. One of those experts ESPN's Jeff Borzello, recently tabbed the Tigers as the No. 14 team in the country, which also happens to be fourth in the SEC. The No. 14 Tigers trail the defending champion Florida Gators (No. 2), Kentucky Wildcats (No. 9) and Arkansas Razorbacks (No. 11) among the SEC programs on the list. Alabama (No. 17) and Tennessee (No. 23) are the only other ranked teams from the conference. Three other squads on Auburn's 2025-2026 schedule rank ahead of the Tigers as well, with No. 1 ranked Purdue and last year's runner up Houston (No. 3) rounding out Borzello's trio at the top. Arizona, who the Tigers will begin a home-and-home series with this year, ranks one spot ahead of Auburn, at No. 13. Despite Auburn beating all but one of those teams (Florida) last season, Borzello explains the ranking was due to "Bruce Pearl's roster faces an overhaul" as he cited the sudden departure of Chad Baker-Mazara as a major loss. Still, Pearl's additions of Texas Tech guard Kevin Overton, UCF forward and BIG 12 leading scorer Keyshawn Hall, and Mississippi State forward KeShawn Murphy give Auburn proven, Power 4, big time talent. It is important to note preseason rankings, specifically ones done in June, aren't often accurate. Auburn's ranking at the No. 14 spot should say more about the Tigers ability to reload and make a deep run in the NCAA Tournament again than it does indicate a step back. For reference, Bruce Pearl's squad was ranked all the way back at No. 18 in last season's preseason AP Poll. Contact/Follow us @TheAuburnWire on X (Twitter), and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Auburn news, notes, and opinion. You can also follow Brian on Twitter@TheRealBHauch
