See bottom for reader discussion of Alabama basketball.
Alabama Crimson Tide basketball has been successfully led by head coach Mark Gottfried since 1998. During Gottfried's tenure, Bama B-ball has placed second in the Southeastern Conference (SEC) for most overall wins, SEC tournament appearances and titles, and regular season titles. They have been to twenty-eight different tournament championships and have made seven NCAA "Sweet 16" appearances. Their biggest season in recent years came in 2003 when the team made it to March Madness' "Elite Eight" and ranked number one in the SEC.
Thanks to weltal327 at flickr.com for this picture of Bama B-Ball Coach Mark Gottfried.
2007 was an o.k. year for Alabama basketball. The Crimson Tide finished with a 21-12 record. They finished the regular season in a three-way tie for third place in the SEC West. They lost in the first round of the SEC tournament to Kentucky and, because of that, failed to make it to the NCAA B-ball tournament. Alabama was selected for the National Invitational Tournament (NIT), but, again, lost in the first round; this time to the University of Massachusetts (UMASS).
Alabama was looking to have a good 2007-2008 season. That is before the announcement that All-American point guard Ronald Steele would sit out the season due to knee injuries. He is redshirting, so Steele will be back again for the 08-09 season. But, as a result, Alabama Basketball looks a bit bleak this season.
However, the Tide do still return 3 other starters and 7 lettermen all together. They still have All-SEC forward Richard Hendrix as well as forward Alonzo Gee and guard Brandon Hollinger.
The Alabama basketball team spent their time in the off-season playing several exhibition games throughout Canada, the first time UA's basketball team has done that in the school’s history.
Ronald Steele and Hendrix were both honored recently after being named to the All-Rolls Royce team by columnist Dick Vitale. Coach Gottfried also kept busy in the off-season by coaching the USA Men’s Pan American Games Team in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil throughout the summer.
One former standout player for Alabama recently made his way to the NBA. Former starter Jermareo Davidson just signed on to play for the Charlotte Bobcats after going thirty-sixth overall in the NBA draft. Davidson was a huge asset to the team during his time at Alabama, leading the Tide to the Elite Eight in the NCAA tournament in 2004 and averaging over ten points per game.
Prediction: 4th in the SEC West. Will not make the NCAA or NIT Tournaments.
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