Few things could pull Aaron Estrada out of class. A call from Alabama men’s basketball Nate Oats did just that in April. The soon-to-be Hofstra graduate entered the transfer portal, and Oats was the first coach to contact him. The conversation lasted a few minutes, but Estrada’s feelings were cemented.

“Obviously I already knew who he was and everything, but he introduced himself and just told me that he was interested,” Estrada said. “And he would like to just keep getting to know me and recruit me more. I kind of talked to him for like five minutes, but I had to go back to class.”

Estrada committed a few weeks later on April 22, becoming the latest ballhandling combo guard in Oats’ system. Nearly six months later Oats brought Estrada to SEC media day as one of two player representatives for Alabama, joining Mark Sears, signifying his early impact on the program. Estrada said he knew he wanted to choose Alabama after that first call with Oats because of the program’s recent winning pedigree and style of play. On a completely restructured roster, Estrada will be a focal point for this year’s Crimson Tide.

Estrada earned the Colonial Athletic Association Player of the Year award in each of the past two seasons at Hofstra. Last season, he was a Lou Henson (mid-major) All-American after averaging 20.2 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 4.3 assists per game for the Pride, who went 25-10 and made the NIT second round.

“I coached at a similar level at Buffalo,” Oats said. “Every player of the year in the Mid-American Conference (where Buffalo plays) could have come here and started at Alabama.”

Estrada’s first game-like action with Alabama came on Sunday in a private scrimmage against TCU. He scored 19 points with five rebounds and three assists in 36 minutes, but Alabama lost 85-81 without Sears who was held out with a groin injury. Adjusting to new environments is familiar to Estrada, who will be on his fourth team in five years. His career began at Saint Peter’s in 2019, followed by one year at Oregon, where he played in just nine games.

He’s held in high regard around the Tide program as a leader, and he described himself as a “seasoned and poised” player who hopes to set a good example for the roster that lost five of its top six players from last year’s SEC champs and now has eight freshmen and sophomores.

Estrada committed to Oats partly for the chance to showcase himself on a bigger stage. At the time, Oats was without any full-time assistant coach (all three left for head coaching jobs); the only staffers left were director of scouting Adam Bauman and player development coordinator Christian Pino. But Oats sold Estrada on his development that’s landed several players in the NBA over the last few years. Estrada noted that Oats was the only coach who spoke with him extensively about the next step of his career after college.

Games haven’t officially started, but early returns indicate that Estrada is positioned nicely for a strong season.

“(He) plays hard. One of the hardest-working guys I’ve ever been around,” Oats said. “Then his skill level is really high. We chart everything in practice, at the rim finishing percentage is as high as any guard I’ve ever had. He shoots it well from three. And he can be a great defender.”

Estrada averaged 1.5 steals per game in both seasons at Hofstra, and at 6-foot-3 and 190 pounds he’s a switchable player and is active in passing lanes. But where Estrada shines is on the offensive end as a three-level scoring guard.

His true shooting percentage at Hofstra was 57 percent, according to KenPom. At the rim, where Oats praised his prowess, he shot 68.7 percent, which ranked in the 83rd percentile nationally, per CBB Analytics. This clip below encapsulates one way that Estrada gets good looks near the basket: He plays with strong body control and pace, allowing him to get past defenders and the Eurostep to create space illustrates his creativity.

Estrada should fit nicely in Alabama’s uptempo, spacious system. He’s a good one-on-one player who possesses a variety of dribble packages and crafty moves to create space that make him a threat at any level — he shot 56 percent on 2s and 35 percent from 3 (on nearly six attempts per game) at Hofstra. Oats noted that in a recent practice Estrada made 10-of-15 3s. Estrada shot basically the same percentage on catch-and-shoot looks when he was unguarded last season as when those shots were contested, per Synergy.

Estrada also doesn’t need the ball in his hands to score. He’s a 59 percent catch-and-shoot converter and moves well off screens or by cutting that set up other opportunities. One of the areas of emphasis for Mark Sears this season is playing more pick-and-roll, there will be opportunities for Estrada as an off-ball guard on those looks.

Alabama’s offense utilizes multiple ballhandlers, and Estrada led the CAA in assists per game in 2021-22 and finished fifth last season. “He’s going to definitely have the ball in his hand a lot,” Oats said.

Estrada acknowledges that he’s at the center of Alabama’s biggest question mark as a team: how the new pieces fit together once games begin. The Tide play a tough nonconference slate including Arizona, Purdue and Creighton. Alabama will play an exhibition against Wake Forest on Oct. 29 (Sears is questionable) before the season begins on Nov. 6 against Morehead State.

“He’s an all-SEC type of guard,” Sears said. “When we start (playing games), y’all will see.”

(Photo of Aaron Estrada at SEC basketball media day: Vasha Hunt / USA Today)