Alabama men’s basketball needs to look to its new rings.

At least the players on the 2023-24 team who received their Final Four rings Friday should. On the inside of them reads “Mudita.”

It’s a reference to a phrase the team adopted en route to the Final Four, meaning vicarious joy in someone else’s success. The phrase has been a staple of the Alabama softball program under coach Patrick Murphy. He introduced the men’s basketball team to it during a speech last winter.

That phrase sparked an unexpected run to basketball’s biggest stage, and it might be needed again this season. Perhaps even more.

Alabama coach Nate Oats has arguably the best roster he has ever had this season. That means plenty of talent with which to work, but it also means having plenty of talent (and personalities) to manage. Figuring out how to distribute minutes to a roster filled to the brim with quality basketball players might be Oats’ greatest challenge this season.

“There’s going to have to be sacrifices made to win championships,” Oats said Tuesday at SEC Media Days in Mountain Brook.

Alabama returned Mark Sears, Latrell Wrightsell Jr., Grant Nelson, Mo Dioubate and Jarin Stevenson. Much of that group saw starting minutes at times a season ago.

Then the Crimson Tide added four freshmen, two of whom were McDonald’s All-Americans. Plus, Labaron Philon has already received high praise so far.

Then there are the transfer portal additions: Aden Holloway, Chris Youngblood, Houston Mallette and Clifford Omoruyi. Omoruyi was one of the top transfer portal players out of Rutgers.

The message Oats and his staff have issued to the team: It’s not about how many minutes you get but what you do with them.

“Is our offensive efficiency better with you on the floor?” Oats said. “Is our defensive efficiency better with you on the floor?”

Players don’t have to average high numbers to get minutes. They just need to do things that make them valuable such as being a good screener, grabbing offensive rebounds and more. Make, as the program would say, blue collar plays.

“We’re going to try to reward effort,“ Oats said. ”Reward winning plays.”

But there could still be a challenge figuring out who gets the minutes if too many guys are making winning plays and displaying effort.

Part of Oats’ strategy to combat future dissatisfaction with minutes is to relate it to the NBA. Wrightsell said he brings it up a lot. Alabama has also had players go to the pros who haven’t had eye-popping numbers or minutes.

“I think we’ve got guys who have a chance to be pros,” Oats said. “They would be better off playing fewer minutes and being more efficient in their fewer minutes than they would playing higher minutes.”

Wrightsell said the players coming back for another season realized for what they were signing up with plenty of good players on the team. Minutes would be sacrificed.

“We all know it’s for a greater purpose,“ Wrightsell said. ”Coach knows what he’s doing. We won’t question that. We know we’ll be in the time we’re in because that’s when we’re wanted the most.”

References to Dioubate are frequently made, Sears said. Particularly what Dioubate did against Grand Canyon in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. In approximately the last 5:30 of the game, Dioubate stepped up and scored all nine of his points to lift Alabama into the Sweet 16.

Dioubate had been a reserve throughout much of the season, but he didn’t let a lack of minutes discourage him too much from being there when he was needed.

“We use that as a perfect (example) of you’ve got to be ready when your time is called,“ Sears said. ”You might not know when your time is called, but when it is, you’ve got to be ready and step up to the challenge.”

There’s a reason last season the phrase Mudita morphed into Mo-dita.

The Crimson Tide needs each player to channel it this season to prevent a toxic, minute-focused environment from bubbling up in a locker room full of talent. It’s what could be the main challenge standing in the way of another Final Four appearance and a first national championship.

Nick Kelly is an Alabama beat writer for AL.com and the Alabama Media Group. Follow him on X and Instagram.