Alabama Basketball’s Jarin Stevenson ‘Grew Up’ in Elite 8 Victory
The Crimson Tide freshman chipped in with 19 points off the bench to propell the program to its first Final 4.
The Alabama Crimson Tide qualified for the Final 4 for the first time in program history on Saturday night by defeating the Clemson Tigers 89-82 in Los Angeles.
The Crimson Tide’s historic run through the West Region featured standout performances by complimentary players in each of its first four games that helped see Alabama advance to the next round. In the opening round, Latrell Wrightsell scored 17 points to serve as Mark Sears’s sidekick. Rylan Griffen tried his best Robin impersonation in the second round scoring 13 while Grant Nelson took his turn as Sears’s second by scoring 24 in the upset of North Carolina.
So who’s turn was it to step up in the Elite 8 round with a chance at program history on the line? Alabama freshman Jarin Stevenson.
“I mean, Jarin, shoot, season high in the biggest game of his life, hit big shot after big shot, made tough play after tough play. He grew up tonight,” said Alabama head coach Nate Oats. “Shoot, 19 points on 11 shots is pretty efficient basketball. Super proud of Jarin.”
Stevenson entered the night with just nine points on 3-9 shooting and 2-8 from the 3-point line in the Crimson Tide’s first three NCAA Tournament games. To make matters worse for the freshman, he air-balled his first shot of the game, making it his fifth miss in a row from deep in the tournament. Despite the initially shaky start, it was Stevenson who got things going for Alabama, making two of his five makes from deep in the first half to close a 13-point deficit and take a lead into the locker room.
“It’s mainly just practice. I knew just from practice I can knock those shots down. I’m just focusing on the next shot. Even though, yeah, I airballed one or two 3s, just focusing on the next shot, really just helping me shoot better,” said Stevenson.
The should-be high school senior credited the locker room’s sense of Mudita as his teammates continuously encouraged him to let shots fly.
“With my two air-ball 3s, my guys had my back. They wanted me to keep shooting. Every time I went to the bench, the guys are high-fiving me and having my back and cheering me on,” said Stevenson. “And every time I was on the bench we locked each other’s arms and clapped and chant defense and stuff like that. I felt like it was there today.”
Stevenson was relentless in the second half as each of his three makes from deep came in response to Clemson makes from Joseph Girard to help the Crimson Tide maintain a lead.
“Jarin, he grew up tonight. I kept telling throughout the game, I think he passed only one 3 I threw to him,” said Aaron Estrada. “I said, just shoot the ball. Be confident. You’re built for this. You put the work in. He was shooting them and he started making them.”
The freshman ended with 19 points with three rebounds and two blocks for the best performance of his NCAA Tournament career.
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