Alabama coach Nate Oats said Friday that five-star football signee Ga’Quincy McKinstry will have a spot on the basketball team as early as next season.
McKinstry, the state’s top-rated football recruit in the 2020 class, signed his letter of intent Wednesday with Alabama. McKinstry -- expected to play cornerback for the Tide -- helped Pinson Valley win the Class 6A state championship earlier this month while taking home MVP honors.
“I’ve talked to him numerous times kind of through the recruitment process,” Oats said. “Obviously he’s gonna come on football scholarship, but I think his athleticism, his toughness -- he’s a kid that I think could add something. How much and where and what will all be determined. But we’ve definitely told him he’s got a spot on the basketball team when he comes here.”
McKinstry plans to enroll early at Alabama for the spring and skip the upcoming basketball season.
“I think if he comes early this year, he’d be focused in on football for next year,” Oats added Friday.
As a guard, McKinstry averaged 15 points, five rebounds and 3.7 assists per game for Pinson Valley, which finished last season with a 28-4 record.
At Oats’ previous stop in Buffalo, he coached a backup quarterback, Dominic Johnson, from the football team who joined the basketball team late in the season and participated in games.
“But when they were playing, they weren’t always in a bowl game,” Oats explained. “Even when they were, it wasn’t the national championship game going into the middle of January.
“If a kid on the [Alabama] football team right now as to be on the basketball team, they couldn’t join us for almost another month still. So it’s gonna be a little bit of a -- we just got to figure out some of the particulars once he gets here.
“But he’s a really hard-playing, really athletic, talented kid that wants to play basketball. We can definitely use some toughness on the basketball team.”
McKinstry was named MVP of the Alabama-Mississippi all-star game last week.
“Kool-Aid is a really good player,” Nick Saban said Thursday evening during his weekly radio show. “I really like him as a person. He’s a good basketball player, too. Really good athlete. Their team won the state championship. I know he contributed to that in a very positive way. We’re very glad to have him be part of the program.”
Mike Rodak is an Alabama beat reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @mikerodak.
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