Mark Sears scored 2,839 career points at Alabama, taking part in the Crimson Tide’s only Final Four team in 2024. Between that run, beating Auburn with a buzzer-beater over Denver Jones on the Tigers’ home-floor in the regular season finale, and erupting for 34 points on 10 three-pointers against BYU in the Sweet 16, Sears left his mark in Tuscaloosa.
AL.com’s Nick Kelly believes it was enough of a mark to include him on Alabama hoops’ “Mount Rushmore” despite not having the most impressive pedigree of any player to grace the Coleman Coliseum home locker rooms.
“He might not be the most talented player ever at Alabama. He probably won’t be the best pro ever to come from Tuscaloosa either,” Kelly wrote.
"Sears, however, is no doubt the most successful. He took Alabama to unprecedented heights. For that, he’s worthy of a spot on the program’s Mount Rushmore."
Despite going out on a six-point, six-assist night in an 85-65 loss to Duke in the Elite Eight, Sears leaves college basketball as the best player on the greatest team in the University of Alabama’s history.
Per the rules of Mount Rushmore, established by the original monument in Keystone, South Dakota, the best of the best are immortalized.
The Crimson Tide’s most immortal run the program has ever had wouldn’t have happened had it not been for Sears’ 24.2 points per game during the 2024 NCAA Tournament.
Get that man’s face in that hypothetical mountain.