One day this preseason, an Alabama men’s basketball staffer texted the team group chat. Scholarship players were needed at Coleman Coliseum to film a pregame hype video for the upcoming season. According to head coach Nate Oats, senior Nick Pringle responded almost immediately. Pringle wanted the walk-ons included, so he offered his airtime for them.

It was a selfless act from Pringle, which Oats appreciated. Still, Pringle is one of just three returning rotational players left over from last year’s Sweet 16 team. An introduction to the new faces remains necessary. And on Monday night, the fans got one with a 105-73 rout of Morehead State.

Debuting starters Aaron Estrada and Grant Nelson followed up the pregame video with 40 points combined. Despite four transfers, five freshmen and three new assistant coaches, No. 24 Alabama (1-0) doesn’t expect a drastic scheme change from the first four years of the Oats era.

“We’re gonna play the way we’ve always played here,” said Oats. “We’re gonna play fast, gonna play hard, we’re gonna take a lot of 3s. But the faces will be a little different.”

Alabama lost 3,000 points either to the NBA Draft, graduation or transfer portal. Only one starter, guard Mark Sears, returned from last year’s roster. The Tide was able to get a look at almost everyone in the opener. Eleven players recorded double-digit minutes and 11 attempted at least two shots.

UA attempted 23 3-pointers, converting 10. It averaged 29.5 tries from deep per game last year, fourth-most nationally.

Nelson, a highly-regarded transfer from North Dakota State, led all scorers with 24 points. He added seven rebounds and one assist. But with the 6-foot-10 big being able to bring the ball up for Alabama, Oats said he could anticipate Nelson facilitating the ball to Sears and Estrada. Freshman Jarin Stevenson can also act like Noah Clowney did a year ago, switching between the four and five.

“While making the decision I kinda knew how I wanted to play,” Estrada, who was at Hofstra, said. “Last year as a spectator I kinda watched Alabama anyway.”

The Tide kept about an eight-to-nine-player rotation a year ago and at some point, the bench options will be whittled down this winter. Oats was blunt postgame, stating some of the defensive efforts wouldn’t cut it against “high-major” teams. Morehead averaged 1.1 points per possession and shot 43.5% from the field. Alabama plays Ohio State on Nov. 24 and Clemson on Nov. 28.

It was hard to find too many complaints, though. As Oats noted, Alabama produced 100-plus points in a season-opener for the first time since 2001.

“Everybody really needs to want their teammate to succeed. I think we got a lot of that going,” Oats said last Friday. “Now we haven’t played a game yet. We haven’t had somebody not get as many minutes as they think they deserve so some of those chemistry issues start to get really based out once games start. …. I think that’s gonna be great, kinda got to wait and see for the games to start to see how great the attitudes stay.”

Nick Alvarez is a reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @nick_a_alvarez or email him at [email protected].