Alabama basketball guard Kai Spears has transferred to Marshall to play basketball, sources with direct knowledge told The Tuscaloosa News.
Spears was an assistant player who received a scholarship for the second half of the 2023-24 season. He’s a 6-foot-4, 160-pound guard. Spears’ father, Christian Spears, is the athletics director at Marshall.
Oats decided to give Spears a scholarship a week before the Mississippi State game, as Alabama was using 12 of its 13 scholarships and would not fill the last one until the end of the season.
Then, in his first scholarship game, Spears made the most of the 1:02 he received at the end of a rout of the Bulldogs; Spears scored five points, made both free throws, committed a foul and made a 3-pointer.
“He doesn’t play scared,” coach Nate Oats said in February. “He went to the rim. He made both of his free throws. He made one (3-pointer). Pretty productive 1:02.”
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Nick Kelly is the Alabama writer for The Tuscaloosa News, part of the USA TODAY Network, and covers Alabama football and men’s basketball. Contact him at nkelly@gannett.com or follow him @_NickKelly on X, the social media app formerly known as Twitter.
This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Alabama Basketball: Kai Spears Transfers to Marshall