JOHN PETTY WAS MONSTER SIGN FOR 'BAMA...    

   

John Petty is the Tide's best catch...

 John Petty may be the most important player recruited by Alabama for the upcoming season. How can I say that when the Tide signed Collin Sexton?  The Tide took a Kentucky recruit (the first player on the KU list) and flipped him to the Capstone. That nifty recruiting should prove a point to Tide fans. Avery Johnson is going to win more than his fair share of recruiting battles in the future. Of course, signing Sexton was huge. Let’s not forget that the Tide also signed some other fine players.

 ·    Herb Jones 6-5, 185 lb. small forward or two guard from Hale County High School is a smooth shooting left hander who has some upside. A lot of fans presumed he was a Bama lock because he is from Moundville, Alabama. That wasn’t the case. The Tide had to beat off five other SEC teams to get his signature. Jones average 17 ppg and 8 rebounds a game.  He was a First Team All-State Player in the Four AAAA division. He is a four-star player. Incidentally, He is now listed as 6-7 by some publications. Due to Alabama’s current roster, Johnson may have the luxury to red-shirt Jones.

      Alex Reese had a tremendous senior season despite some nagging injuries. He is 6-9 and weighs a solid 220 lbs. He will probably start playing as a small forward and then the Tide will see what happens to him after a year in the weight program. He was a First Team All-State player at Pelham High School and was a consensus top 100 player. He is solid with his fundamentals and has range from the three-point line. Needs more strength and can develop into a better player. ‘Bama fought it out with almost all the SEC teams and some other NCAA Division One programs to ink with the Tide. Johnson was very happy to land him.

       John Petty was named Mr. Basketball at Mae Jemison in Huntsville, Alabama. He was a top 25 national-player and a key recruit for Alabama. The Tide got him away from Kentucky. He had over 100 scholarship offers. He is a versatile athlete who can play the two-guard or small forward position. He missed a lot of late season All-Star games due to an injury. The signing of Petty may prove to be a watershed moment for Avery Johnson, who was at his home one minute after midnight when the recruiting period opened. A BIG catch for Bama.

 TIDE SEEMS READY TO ROLL INTO 

 PROMINENCE AGAIN

Johnson has the horses this year...

     

    It seems like a good time to write about Alabama basketball. Will this be the year that Alabama hears their name called on Selection Sunday? For all the good and loyal hoop fans, it seems like it is always next year in Jerusalem. Every year we all get very excited thinking this is the year that Bama basketball will become relevant again. No doubt, it has been a long time coming. Give Avery Johnson, Antoine Pettway, and John Pelphery credit for going out and signing a top five national recruiting class. That is tall cotton for a program that has fallen on some hard times of late. 

Recruiting and Brand soars...

   

Sexton is the Real Deal
compliments of Tipton Edits

       More than recruiting, Johnson has brought some high expectations to the hardwood once again. The Tide has upgraded the schedule and the brand of Alabama basketball. If the Tide doesn’t explode into a real competitor to win the SEC Regular Season Championship a lot of people are going to be disappointed. I don’t think Bama will win the SEC, but they are likely going to determine who will as the season progresses. An early “international” trip to Canada will give the young Tide ten extra practices. Johnson will need those practices to find his playing rotation. Five freshmen and one transfer will be added to the mix. Three of those freshmen should see major minutes this season. The transfer could elevate the Tide’s offensive punch in the paint.

      There are plenty of questions to be answered before the start of the first game. Who is going to be the point guard? Will Johnson play Dazon Ingram at the point? Or will he put in gifted freshman Collin Sexton to run floor. When you add AJ, Jr. the mix, the coach has three point guards who can play the game. Sexton is being touted as the second coming. He has the talent and the hard-nosed competitiveness to become a star, and is a legitimate one and done. I watched him play six games the past season and he is the real deal.

Point Guard U gets a new addition...

      The Crimson Tide has been point-guard U in basketball lore. Is it fair to compare a true freshman with Ennis Whately, Terry Conner, Ronald Steele, and Trevor Releford? That is a hard question to answer but from a pure talent standpoint, Sexton is more talented than any point guard to ever wear the Crimson and White. I named just a few of the great point guards in Bama history. The list is much longer. About the only weakness that Sexton has is some streaky outside shooting. Off the dribble he is going to make a lot of good defensive players look foolish. 

 

Ingram's late season surge was big for Tide

    So what happens to Dazon Ingram? Good question. Will Johnson decide to play two point guards and have better ball handling?  I think it will be hard for the Tide NOT to start Ingram. He is the team leader. His teammates look to him for fire on both ends of the floor. Ingram's late season explosion will be hard to overlook. Here's an idea. Play Ingram at the two. He will dominate a slower footed two guard and Ingram will cause a match-up problems against a true point guard. Ingram is 6-5. Most point guards are not that tall. He can post up low, or dribble penetrate to the basket and shoot over most defenders. Johnson has a wealth of problems to solve. He'll do it. He is a great floor coach. 

PART TWO TOMORROW  - JOHN PETTY AND THE OTHER TIDE FRESHMAN. STARTING LINE-UP GUESS, AND WHO IS READY FOR BREAK OUT SEASON?