Alabama basketball assistant coach Preston Murphy has kept Crimson Tide fans on their toes all offseason, and just hours after the team released official jersey numbers for the upcoming year, he had one more surprise.
Four-star prospect Collins Onyejiaka took a tour of Tuscaloosa on Wednesday, June 18, then a member of the 2026 recruiting class. By Friday, he’d been swayed to reclassify to the class of 2025, per On3’s Joe Tipton, who shocked social media with the announcement that the 6-foot-10 center will play for Alabama in the 2025-26 season.
According to Dushawn London of 247Sports, Onyejiaka was recently considering visits to BYU, Indiana, Providence and Georgetown, the latter of which the Newman School (Boston, M.A.) student made a trip to earlier this year.
How did Alabama basketball commit Collins Onyejiaka do in his last year of preps?
Through 39 games during his junior season on the varsity circuit with Newman, Onyejiaka averaged 9.5 points, 7.9 boards and 2.7 blocks per game.
Onyejiaka is ranked the No. 14 overall center and the No. 3 player in Massachusetts.
With the 270-pounder now in the mix, Alabama’s centers for the 2025-26 season will also include returning sophomore Aiden Sherrell and transfer newcomer Noah Williamson (Bucknell), both standing at over 7-feet.
Emilee Smarr covers Alabama basketball and Crimson Tide athletics for the Tuscaloosa News. She can be reached .
Leave a Reply