Alabama coach Nate Oats said Friday he has approached guard Jahvon Quinerly with the possibility of playing a sixth season in 2023-24.

Quinerly was honored last season on senior day but decided to return to school this season as he recovered from a torn ACL. Quinerly is not among the three players Alabama is honoring during senior day this Saturday against Arkansas: Noah Gurley, Dom Welch and walk-on Adam Cottrell.

“He planned on leaving after last year,” Oats said. “He blew the knee out, basically had to come back. And he’s been great. He had another good practice today, too.

“I have brought [a sixth year] up with him. I don’t have an answer for you.”

Oats said NIL benefits could play a role in Quinerly remaining in school another year. Quinerly, who became popular online from his “Jelly Fam” highlight videos in high school, had the most social media followers of any Alabama athlete when NIL was legalized in 2021.

“He could probably make more money — he was one of those, with the whole Jelly Fam thing, his NIL opportunities would have been a lot bigger right when he was coming out of high school [in 2018]. He had a big name,” Oats said Friday. “But he’s been able to capitalize on it more now. You see his name popping up more on different things.”

Quinerly spent the 2018 season at Villanova before transferring to Alabama in 2019. Under NCAA rules at the time, he had sit out the 2019-20 season. He played for Alabama in the 2020-21 season, but is able to use the NCAA’s COVID waiver to have that not count against his eligibility. That means the 2021-22 season was his second season of eligibility, this current season is his third and Quinerly would have a fourth season of eligibility available in 2023-24.

“So I don’t know what he’s going to do,” Oats said. “We’re going to figure that out in the offseason, once the season is over. We’ve kind of, as an administration, we’ve talked about how do you honor seniors? The kid literally could have three senior days, with [his] COVID [eligibility waiver]. JQ, he had senior day last year. He could do it again this year. If he decided to come back, he could do it again next year.

“We’ve decided it would be best to honor each kid one time on senior day. Since he’s already been honored, that’s why he’s not in that group of three to be honored.”

After starting last season for Alabama, Quinerly has returned to a bench role this season with no starts in 26 appearances since returning earlier than expected from his ACL injury in November. He has averaged 18 minutes per game, scoring 6.7 points per contest. He has 90 assists to 54 turnovers.

“I don’t know if this will be his last year or not,” Oats reiterated. “Last year was supposed to be his last year, but he does have another year left. I don’t have an answer for you. I don’t think he knows the answer. We’ll see how workouts go after the season go and all that goes.”

Mike Rodak is an Alabama beat reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @mikerodak.