Maryland coach Kevin Willard offered high praise Friday for the NCAA tournament’s No. 1 overall seed, saying Alabama is the most talented college basketball team he has seen in almost 30 years.
“The funny thing about this roster is, I think this is the most talented roster I’ve seen in college basketball since the ‘93-’94 Kentucky team,” Willard said. “I think Coach Pitino’s ‘93 -- with Antoine Walker, Walter McCarty.”
Although Willard said 1993-94, that team did not yet include Walker. He presumably was referencing Kentucky’s 1995-96 team, which finished a perfect 16-0 in the SEC, lost in the SEC tournament championship game but then won the national championship to finish 34-2.
“This [Alabama] team reminds me of that team with the length, athleticism, how unselfish they play, very similar point guards,” Willard said.
Alabama is a school-record 30-5 and owns the SEC’s regular-season and tournament titles as it prepares to play Maryland in Saturday’s second round of the NCAA tournament. The game in Birmingham’s Legacy Arena tips off at 8:40 p.m. CT.
Oats sensed a little bit of rat poison when told about Willard’s comparison later Friday.
“Thanks for the comparison. I don’t know if I should be saying thanks. That’s a lot of pressure on you, too. That team was good,” he said. “I think he’s also trying to talk our team up. I don’t know if we’re quite that good, so we’ll see.”
Willard gave a scouting report of Alabama to back up his words, saying he loves how Jahvon Quinerly has played lately while giving his endorsement of the Paul George comparisons often made about Brandon Miller.
“The issue with Brandon [Miller] is he has such good range. So it’s not like you can just -- and he’s so talented off the dribble. He uses his size,” Willard said. “You’re not going to sit there and say, okay, we’re going to pressure him and make him dribble. He can dribble. He makes plays, and he’s unselfish.
“We’re going to try to switch up some guys on him, maybe put some taller guys on him. Again, you can’t focus on him.”
Miller is nursing a groin injury that has introduced a shred of doubt to his status Saturday, and was limited to a season-low 19 minutes and no points in Alabama’s 96-75 first-round win over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Thursday.
“He didn’t score last night, and they scored 96 points,” Willard said. “Like, I haven’t seen that, and that’s why, I think, this team reminds me of that ‘93-’94 [Kentucky] team. They had guys that, if one guy didn’t play well, they had two All-Americans coming off the bench.”
Kentucky had a consensus first-team All-American in 1996 in guard Tony Delk, and forward Antoine Walker was an Associated Press honorable mention All-America. The joined McCarty in becoming top-20 NBA draft picks that summer, followed by Mark Pope in the second round. In total, nine members of Kentucky’s 1995-96 team played in the NBA, including Ron Mercer, Derek Anderson, Nazr Mohammed, Jeff Sheppard and Wayne Turner.
“I don’t know if we have that,” Oats said. “I hope we do. That would be great for our players if we have that many who’d be able to play in the NBA.
“We definitely have some depth to us, I can say that.”
Willard agrees.
“It’s a talented roster, and I think what I’m really impressed with them -- I’ve watched their last four games now -- is how unselfish they are,” he said. “They really pass the basketball. It’s not a complicated offense, but it’s a good offense because they’re unselfish.”
Oats returned compliments to Willard’s team, which enters 22-12 after finishing the Big Ten with a 11-9 record.
“He’s got a really good team, too, and he’s done an unbelievable job since he took over that program and just their toughness,” he said. “I mean, they’re good. So we’re going to have to play -- I’ll say this, we’re going to have to play a lot better on the defensive end tomorrow than we did yesterday.”
Mike Rodak is an Alabama beat reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @mikerodak.