Alabama basketball “should have everybody available” for Monday night’s season-opener at 7 p.m. against Morehead State.

Guards Mark Sears is set to return after missing both of UA’s preseason matchups: a scrimmage loss to TCU in Birmingham and a charity exhibition defeat at Wake Forest. Oats said despite the missing players, a reloaded Tide roster was able to learn a bit about itself.

“We try to take major themes every time we play,” Oats said Friday. “You get into the TCU one, our biggest thing was our start. We started out awful. … We’re doing a lot of teaching, a lot of new guys, transfers. When you teach sometimes your intensity, you know, we had to get back. Even if you screw up, and you are gonna screw up once, we have to play hard the whole time.”

The Tide trailed TCU 30-14, Oats said, as Alabama had an issue with its effort and intensity, two musts in Oats’ fast-paced, physical scheme. Oats mentioned how it was ironic that a similar issue plagued Alabama last year in a preseason game against TCU – that eventually led to a players-only meeting. And while there was no crisis moment this year, it was another correctable moment.

UA seemed to listen against Wake Forest last Sunday, building out a 19-0 lead before halftime. Alabama was also able to shoot the ball well from 3-point range, converting eight in the first half. But the Demon Deacons managed a 6-0 run heading into the break and started fast afterward to rally ahead of Alabama and eventually win, 88-80.

Oats mentioned Alabama’s 1-for-10 shooting performance from deep but also cited Alabama’s “rim reads” or decisions when driving toward the hoop were far too inconsistent. But then again, UA was without its lone starter in Sears and multiple new guards, including sophomore Rylan Griffen and Hofstra transfer Aaron Estrada, are building chemistry.

“Don’t play the score, continue to play hard the whole game. I felt like we did that, especially in the Wake Forest game,” freshman Sam Walters, who continued a hot shooting stretch, said. “We were up by a big margin and slacked off and didn’t play to our potential. I think those were good lessons to learn in the preseason.”

The Tide will continue to work out its rotations against Morehead State and the rest of its non-conference schedule. At least one player, freshman forward Jarin Stevenson, said the early games let him know he belonged at the Power 5 level. Stevenson, a forward, reclassified from Alabama’s class of 2024 and figures to be a contributor this winter.

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