Why John Petty chose to stay at Alabama

Alabama v Tennessee

John Petty entered the transfer portal in March and withdrew his name shortly after Nate Oats was installed as Alabama's new coach.Getty Images

John Petty was hanging in the background of the media room Wednesday at Coleman Coliseum as Alabama basketball coach Nate Oats held court with a group of reporters.

As Oats wrapped up his gab session, he sidled past Petty and told the journalists in his midst, “Ask JP about his defense.”

Both smiled.

Not too long ago, Petty was contemplating leaving the Crimson Tide. On the same day in late March when Alabama announced it had hired Oats as Avery Johnson’s replacement, Petty entered the NCAA transfer portal. Roughly 48 hours later, the Huntsville product announced he was returning to Alabama, convinced that he had a place in Oats’ program after meeting with the newly-appointed coach.

“Just getting to know him, what kind of coach he was, what type of guy he was, it drove me back,” Petty said. “Just being able to play at the pace and do the things he had in store for us to do sounded real fun, especially with this group of guys I’ve been around for two years. So that’s what really brought me back.”

Petty liked Oats’ pitch, relishing the idea of operating in an up-tempo style of basketball that entails spreading the floor, shooting from the perimeter and scoring in transition. At times during his first two seasons in Tuscaloosa, Petty has shown flashes he can crash the basket and make a high volume of shots from long range. Last season, the guard, who is a rising junior, led the team with 59 three-pointers.

That’s why retaining Petty was critical for Oats, who has made no secret that he plans to create offense away from the basket.

“If you don’t make the defense come out of the lane -- like the NBA has three seconds in the lane on defense -- if you don’t do that in college, they’ll be sitting in the middle of the lane all game,” Oats said in May.

With his trigger-happy mindset, Petty will factor into that strategy.

But that’s a topic for another time.

The season won’t start until November. In the meantime, Petty is relishing his burgeoning relationship with Alabama’s new coach and is optimistic about his future in the program.

“Just the things he told us and just the type of guy he is was what drew me close to him,” Petty said. “He’s an honest guy and he’s fair and he’s a cool coach. You couldn’t ask for more things than that in a coach and just the style of play. That’s the way I played in high school. In high school, if he recruited me, I would have been in consideration of playing with him.”

High praise from a player who at one point seemed reluctant to even give Oats and the new regime a chance.

Rainer Sabin is an Alabama beat writer for the Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @RainerSabin

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