Pollard decides to Roll with the Tide...

Hoop star delays presser to 5:30 -

     I think this might be for real. The Fat lady has sung. There is no joy in Starkville, Austin, or the District of Columbia. Five star top 15 national recruit, Devonta Pollard is bringing his considerable basketball skills to the play with Anthony Grant. We’ve seen the videos and photographs. Thanks mucho to forum members who attended the actual emancipation of sinking expectations to give us all a first hand report. 

Some perspective...

       So let me try to put this into some actual prospective for those of you who still don’t like Grant. If Anthony Grant had been the captain of the Titanic it would not have sunk. The South might have won the Civil War, and our national budget might be balanced. Releford, Cooper, Jacobs, Lacey, Randolph, Taylor, and now Pollard. This is Alabama football type talent for the hardwood. These young men might not win a national championship in basketball while they are a group. They will come close though. When you can coach defense and get top recruits you will win SEC championships and perhaps more. 


       Pollard has a lot of upside. Keep in mind that he is small, although not skinny, and he hasn’t seen life in the SEC. SEC basketball is the place that turned a contact sport into a collision sport. Anthony Grant has turned the court into a place where the faint of heart can find no place to hide. Nolen Richardson would be proud. If Richardson gave the SEC “forty minutes of hell” then Grant took that concept to even lower regions of the devil’s domain.

Pollard said he decided today ... hmm? 

        The Kemper County, Mississippian said he woke up this  (Friday) morning and knew in his heart he wanted to play at Alabama. I think a fairer assesment is he wanted to play for Coach Grant. No doubt he likes Alabama, but there is even less doubt that Pollard and Grant see eye to eye on a lot of matters, not all basketball. As the Bard once wrote, “All’s well that ends well.” For Pollard he has the opportunity to play surrounded by great players. He will have time to hone and find his game. He will be just one of several big dogs on the floor. Time will tell how he will fit in with his new teammates. I know that to a man all current players are glad to have him on board. Let’s give him some time to adapt. He is going to be a good one. He may even turn out to be a great one. He is not going to dominate the SEC as a freshman. There are five star players, and then there is Anthony Davis. Pollard is no Davis. He may be the best player Alabama has signed since Mo Williams.