A year ago, Alabama All-America guard Collin Sexton was finishing up his high school career in Georgia and tearing up the spring and summer AAU circuits, emerging as an unknown into a Top-10 recruit.
This year, he has elevated Alabama into the NCAA Tournament as perhaps the most electrifying player since Kemba Walker propelled Connecticut to the NCAA title in 2011.
Next year, Sexton most likely will be playing in the NBA.
On Thursday, Sexton will lead the ninth-seeded Alabama Crimson Tide (19-5) against the eighth-seeded Virginia Tech Hokies (21-11) in a first-round East Region game in Pittsburgh.