GLENDALE, Ariz. — You might be forgiven if you’ve somehow overlooked Mark Sears. Alabama’s do-it-all star is the shortest player on the Crimson Tide’s Final Four roster, measuring 6-foot-1. And he tends to be a touch on the quiet side, which teammates say is a by-product of his shy nature.
But there is no quiet to his game.
Sears, who began his career at the University of Ohio before transferring to Alabama in 2022, is the catalyst of a top-five Alabama team that has mastered the art of weaponizing the 3-point shot. He is the audacious head of the snake and a willing flamethrower whose bold game and limitless range has unlocked previously unrealized potential for this program and put it on the biggest stage of the sport.
“He always lets his game do the talking,” teammate Sam Walter said. “From that sense, he’s definitely the loudest on the team.”
On the floor, Sears’ game shouts at deafening levels. Even when he’s not talking, his game and his example are setting the tone for this upstart Alabama team, which on Saturday plays No. 1 seed UConn for a chance to advance to its first men’s basketball national championship game.
“Having a first program appearance, it’s very special to soak it all in,” Sears said. “We didn’t come here just to be satisfied of making the Final Four. We obviously have goals and ambitions to win the whole thing.”
The words “steady” and “even-keeled” come up a lot when you ask about Sears’ demeanor and who he is as a person. So does “quiet” and “shy.” But more than anything else, “leader” is the tag most frequently said of Alabama’s unassuming superstar.
He’s all of the above.
“He’s the leader more by actions than words,” Walter said. “We all take note of what he does and we follow his lead.”
Don’t conflate quiet or shy and translate that into assuming Sears lacks confidence, either. He doesn’t. In fact, his quiet side and his killer side often intertwine in…
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