Early on Monday, Alabama basketball saw its first transfer portal departure, in Naas Cunningham. Later in the day, the Crimson Tide made its first pickup since falling in the Elite Eight, when Noah Williamson committed to the Crimson Tide, according to Joe Tipton from On3.

Williamson, who began his college career at Bucknell, will provide a presence in the middle that UA was set to lose with Cliff Omoruyi out of eligibility. The 7-foot-0, 250-pound forward/ center from Latvia was the Patriot League’s player of the year last season.

Williamson averaged 17.6 points and 7.6 rebounds last season for the Bison. Bucknell won the regular season championship in the Patriot League, but fell in the conference tournament and did not make the NCAA Tournament.

The addition of Williamson means he is currently the tallest player on Alabama’s roster, just ahead of Aiden Sherrell and Jarin Stevenson. His presence could be huge for a Crimson Tide team that relied heavily on Omoruyi’s inside attack during the early rounds of the NCAA Tournament.

Williamson spent three seasons at Bucknell, leaving him with one year of eligibility for Alabama. In addition to the conference’s player of the year honor, he made the Patriot League all-defensive team for his efforts during the 2025-25 campaign.

He made 53.8% of his field goal attempts last season, and 61.7% of his free throws.

Alabama cruised through the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament, leading to a Sweet 16 matchup with BYU. The Crimson Tide broke the all-time tournament record for threes in a single game during that matchup, and advanced to the Elite Eight.

However, the magic ran out against No. 1-seeded Duke. The Blue Devils got out ahead of Alabama, which could never close the gap and fell one game short of the Final Four.

Cunningham left the Crimson Tide after redshirting his freshman season. The transfer portal remains open through April 22.