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Alabama Crimson Tide men's basketball

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Alabama Crimson Tide
UniversityUniversity of Alabama
Head coachAnthony Grant (2nd season)
ConferenceSoutheastern Conference
West Division
ArenaColeman Coliseum
(capacity: 15,316)
NicknameCrimson Tide
ColorsCrimson and White
   
Uniforms
Home jersey
Team colours
Home
Away jersey
Team colours
Away


NCAA tournament Elite Eight
2004
NCAA tournament Sweet Sixteen
1976, 1982, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1990, 1991, 2004
NCAA tournament appearances
1975, 1976, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1994, 1995, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006
Conference tournament champions
1934, 1982, 1987, 1989, 1990, 1991
Conference regular season champions
1934, 1956, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1987, 2002

The Alabama Crimson Tide men's basketball program has a history of being among the best of the SEC and trails only one other program Kentucky in basketball wins, SEC tournament titles, and SEC regular season titles. The team is coached by head coach Anthony Grant, who began his first season with the Crimson Tide in 2009. The men's basketball program rose in stature nationally during the 1990s. Under former coach Mark Gottfried, the team achieved a No. 1 national ranking briefly in 2003, and competed for a NCAA Regional Tournament Championship in 2004. The program was notable as a regular conference basketball contender in the 1980s and early 1990s under the direction of coach Wimp Sanderson and in the 1970s under coach C. M. Newton. Alabama has 8 NCAA Sweet 16 appearances and in the 2003-04 season, the men's team reached the Elite Eight in the NCAA tournament; they ended up losing to eventual 2004 champion, Connecticut.

History

Former Coaches

Former coaches with at least five years with the Crimson Tide include: C.M. Newton (1969–1980); Wimp Sanderson (1981–1992) - Alabama's winningest coach (69.2%); David Hobbs (1992–1998); Mark Gottfried (1998–2009).[1]

C. M. Newton

Main article: C. M. Newton

In 1968, legendary football coach Paul "Bear" Bryant called Kentucky coach Adolph Rupp looking for someone to turn around Alabama's basketball program. Rupp recommended C. M. Newton, a former backup player at Kentucky who had been at Transylvania University for 12 years.[2] In twelve seasons at Alabama, Newton led the Tide to a record of 211-123. The Crimson Tide won three straight SEC titles under Newton (1974, 1975, and 1976), the only program besides Kentucky to accomplish this feat.[2] Newton also guided Alabama to four NIT and two NCAA tournament berths, prompting the school to name a recruiting suite in his honor in 2006.[3]

Just as he did at Transylvania, Newton recruited Alabama's first black player, Wendell Hudson, in 1969, integrating his second team in as many coaching stops.[4]

Wimp Sanderson

Main article: Wimp Sanderson

Newton resigned as head coach after the 1980-81 season to become assistant commissioner of the SEC. He was succeeded by his top assistant, Wimp Sanderson. He had been at Alabama since 1960 as a graduate assistant to Newton's predecessor, Hayden Riley; he was named a full-fledged assistant in 1961. In 12 years as head coach his teams averaged 21.8 wins a year, with a 267-119 record, and they won 4 SEC tournaments. They played in one NIT and eight NCAA tournaments making the "Sweet 16" five times. Sanderson is the only coach in Alabama history to win 200 or more games in his first 10 years. He was the SEC Coach of the Year in 1987, 1989 and 1990, and was the National Coach of the Year in 1987.[5]

Mark Gottfried

Main article: Mark Gottfried
Mark Gottfried (1998–2009)
Season Overall Record SEC Record Postseason
1998–1999 17-15 7-11 NIT 1st Round
1999–2000 13-16 6-10 None
2000-01 25-11 8-8 NIT Final Four
2001-02 27-8 12-4 NCAA 2nd round
2002-03 17-12 7-9 NCAA 1st Round
2003-04 20-13 8-8 NCAA Elite Eight
2004-05 24-8 12-4 NCAA 1st Round
2005-06 18-13 10-6 NCAA 2nd round
2006-07 20-12 7-9 NIT 1st Round
2007-08 17-16 5-11 Declined invitation to CBI[6]
2008-09 12-7 2-3 Resigned mid-season.
Overall record: 210-130 (.618)

Mark Gottfried served as the Crimson Tide's the head coach from the 1998-1999 season until mid-way through the 2008-2009 season.[1] Gottfried played 3 seasons of basketball at Alabama under Wimp Sanderson, and the Crimson Tide advanced to the Sweet Sixteen in each of those seasons. He was hired by Alabama in March 1998 after coaching at Murray State for three seasons.

The Crimson Tide achieved the highest pinnacle ever for the school in both the NCAA Championship Tournament and the Associated Press Poll reaching the Elite Eight in the tournament in 2004 and reaching the No. 1 spot in the nation in the AP poll in 2002, both under Mark Gottfried's command.

Gottfried lead the Tide to its only SEC Championship under his watch during the 2001-2002 season, although the team never won a conference tournament championship during his tenure. For his efforts in 2002, Gottfried was named SEC Coach of the Year by both the Associated Press and his fellow Southeastern Conference coaches. Perhaps his biggest accomplishment as coach at Alabama was leading the Crimson Tide to five consecutive NCAA tournaments from 2002–2006, another first for the school that occurred under his watch.

File:Anthony Grant.png
Anthony Grant

After the 2006 NCAA tournament Alabama would begin on a slide that would eventually lead to Mark Gottfried's resignation. The team's lone All-American, Ronald Steele was injured half way through the 2006-2007 season which ended any chances the team had making a run at the NCAA tournament. Steele decided to take a medical-redshirt during what would have been his senior season, to attempt a stronger physical comeback and the chance to play with his brother Andrew who had committed to play for the Crimson Tide. The surprising play of forward Richard Hendrix provided some optimism that the team might be successful without Steele, however the team would finish with 5-11 conference record and fall to Mississippi State after upsetting Florida in the infamous 2008 SEC tournament in which a tornado hit the Georgia Dome during overtime of the Alabama - Mississippi State game. The fans would gain optimism in the program once again as the return of Ronald Steele showed promise and the team was projected to win the SEC West. However the Tide would have an immediate let down, losing its first regular season game to Mercer. Ronald Steele who would suffer another injury during the season and decided to leave the team. Steele would later reveal that he did not leave the team because of his injury. This lead to speculation that he was not satisfied with the direction of the team under Mark Gottfried. With the combination of the Steele controversy and a loss to Kentucky in which the Tide had led most of the game, Gottfried resigned on January 26, 2009 with 11 regular season games still remaining on the team's schedule.

After Gottfried's resignation Athletic Director Mal Moore named long time Alabama assistant and former player, Philip Pearson as interim head coach to serve out the remainder of the 2009 season.

Anthony Grant

Main article: Anthony Grant

On March 27, 2009 Anthony Grant agreed in principle to become the twentieth Crimson Tide head men's basketball coach.[7] Grant comes to Alabama after serving as the head coach at Virginia Commonwealth University from 2006 to 2009. In his three years at VCU, Grant led the Rams to three straight regular season Colonial Athletic Association championships and two CAA tournament championships. Before his stint at VCU, Grant served as Billy Donovan's top assistant for 12 years at Marshall and Florida, helping the Gators to their first ever national championship.

Fan support

Mark's Madness

Mark's Madness was a student organization named after former Crimson Tide coach Mark Gottfried.[8] It was created by Alabama students David Knight, Daniel Shumate, Dave Garner, and Chris Yarbrough in January 2000 in an attempt to create a more exciting atmosphere in Coleman Coliseum.[9] The primary goal of Mark's Madness was to produce a difficult environment in Coleman Coliseum for opposing teams. Alabama’s home record spoke for itself. During the Gottfried era, the Crimson Tide was an astounding 137-27 (.835) in Coleman Coliseum.[8] The group was named the New Student Organization of the Year for the 2000-2001 school year. "Mark's Madness" was the largest student organization on campus during its time.[8] The end of Mark Gottfried's tenure also meant the end of Mark's Madness.

File:Crimson Chaos.png
Members of the Crimson Chaos

Crimson Chaos

After the new coach, Anthony Grant, was hired, a group of senior students approached the UA Marketing Department in the summer 2009 about resurrecting the student section. During the first exhibition game of the 2009 season, it was announced that the new name of the student organization for supporting Alabama basketball would be named, "Crimson Chaos".

As Crimson Chaos entered its second year, it officially registered as a University of Alabama student group and has adopted a new format. In addition to supporting Men's Basketball, Crimson Chaos is expanding to all University of Alabama sports.

Players

Current Tide players

2010–11 Alabama Crimson Tide men's basketball team
Players Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Hometown
F 1 JaMychal Green 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 225 lb (102 kg) Jr Montgomery, Alabama
G 2 Charles Hankerson 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Fr Miami, Florida
C 4 Carl Engstrom 7 ft 1 in (2.16 m) 250 lb (113 kg) Fr Ystad, Sweden
F 5 Tony Mitchell 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 185 lb (84 kg) So Swainsboro, Georgia
G 10 Ben Eblen 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 180 lb (82 kg) So Isle of Palms, South Carolina
F 11 Jason Carter 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 230 lb (104 kg) Fr Houston, Texas
G 12 Trevor Releford 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) 170 lb (77 kg) Fr Shawnee Mission, Kansas
G 14 Kendall Durant 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Jr Washington, D.C.
G 21 Senario Hillman 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Sr Irwinton, Georgia
G 22 Andrew Steele 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 190 lb (86 kg) RS So Birmingham, Alabama
G 24 Charvez Davis 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Sr Montgomery, Alabama
F 44 Chris Hines 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Sr Evergreen, Alabama
F 50 Justin Luquire 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 225 lb (102 kg) Sr Indian Springs, Alabama
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • (W) Walk-on

For 2010-2011 season, from RollTide.com[10]

Former players

Alabama has seen its stars go on to win nine NBA Championships, six All-Star selections, six All-Defensive Team honors, three All-Rookie honors and more than $390 million in career earnings in the NBA. All told, Alabama players have gone on to suit up in nearly 10,000 NBA games and scored more than 90,000 all-time points.

All-time record vs. current SEC teams

Opponent Won Lost Percentage Streak First Meeting
Arkansas 22 27 .449 Lost 1 1948
Auburn 86 56 .606 Won 2 1924
Florida 73 57 .562 Lost 2 1927
Georgia 88 47 .652 Lost 1 1922
Kentucky 36 100 .265 Won 1 1923
LSU 98 65 .601 Won 3 1916
Mississippi State 114 72 .613 Won 2 1913
Ole Miss 114 51 .691 Lost 2 1921
South Carolina 22 12 .647 Won 3 1923
Tennessee 73 65 .529 Won 1 1914
Vanderbilt 66 63 .512 Lost 1 1924
Totals 792 615 .563

All-time leaders

Individual

Arena Information

Front view of Coleman Coliseum
Main article: Coleman Coliseum

The Crimson Tide basketball team practices and plays in Coleman Coliseum, 15,043-seat multi-purpose arena on the UA campus in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. The arena was built for $4.2 million and opened in 1968 as a replacement for the aging Foster Auditorium. A renovation in 2005 led to additional seating being added. The arena now officially seats 15,314 people.

Coleman Coliseum was named for Jefferson Jackson Coleman, a prominent alumnus. Until his death, in 1995 he was the only person that had attended every Alabama bowl game, starting with the Rose Bowl game on 1926 January 1. Prior to 1990, the building was known as Memorial Coliseum.

References

  1. ^ a b "Listings by UA Career Won" (PDF). Retrieved 2007-02-03. Cite error: The named reference "alcoaches" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  2. ^ a b Recognizable Class - Published in Kentucky Alumnus
  3. ^ C.M. Newton Recruiting Suite to be Dedicated Wednesday
  4. ^ C. M. Newton Bio at the Basketball Hall of Fame
  5. ^ "Wimp Sanderson". Alabama Sports Hall of Fame. Retrieved 2007-02-25.
  6. ^ Hoops season is over for Tide. al.com]
  7. ^ Deas, Tommy and Hurt, Cecil (2009-03-27). "Anthony Grant : 'We have agreed in principle'". The Tuscaloosa News. Retrieved 2009-03-27. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  8. ^ a b c "Marks Madness". Retrieved 2007-02-04. [dead link‍]
  9. ^ "Marks Madness - History". Retrieved 2007-02-04.
  10. ^ "2010-11 Alabama Men's Basketball Roster." rolltide.com. Retrieved on July 28, 2010.
  11. ^ "Bama in the NBA". Retrieved 2007-02-03.
  12. ^ Alabama's records for the 1987 tournament were vacated by the NCAA.
  13. ^ Johnson, Gary; Straziscar, Sean; Senappe, Bonnie; Williams, Jeff; Buerge, Kevin (October 2007). "Official 2008 NCAA Men's Basketball Records Book" (Document). National Collegiate Athletic Association. p. 51. {{cite document}}: Unknown parameter |format= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |issn= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |url= ignored (help)
  14. ^ "Alabama in the NCAA Tournament" (PDF).
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