Sank Roo Doe Noo...
For my Grandfather Russell Ellis

   

 So today I played golf at the Steele Canyon Golf Club in Jamul, California. Naturally, I’m wearing my red saddle oxfords with the Big A on the side.  After the round I go inside for some liquid libation in the form of a beer. You can no long have a glass of water in Southern California.  I get my beer and go out on the veranda, prompt up my size 11’s on another chair. A “Roll Tide” comes blasting from the steps. “Roll Tide back at you brother”, ask we bumped fists.

    He sits down to chat, and the first thing out if his mouth is “can you believe we have Avery Johnson as our coach? How in the heck did that happen?”  Of course, I tell him. He gets the blow by blow description of the firing of Grant, the big turndown by Gregg Marshall, and the happing ending with Avery Johnson.  He buys us a round. I can tell this is going to be a fun afternoon.   He told me he was from Texas and was a Spurs fan who had watched Johnson play.  He then said he watched him coach when he moved to Mavericks.  “This is unreal , dude, unreal.”  I order the next round, and our waitress suggested a pitcher because would be more cost effective.  That’ Southern Cal talk for cheaper. 

   We had a couple of more, which is about three more than I usually have.  Not one word about football.  We all take football for granted and there’s no need to talk about Nick Saban because the man has football covered.  I get up and head to the men’s room.  It’s a rental agreement I have with beer due to my age.  Back ton the table we are talking about the old days when Wimp coached.  “Let’s have another round for the road?” Road? I could barely see the table as it was. The cute little waitress, who is apparently was studying economics, walks up to the table and asks, “How about another round for you molasses dripping talkers?”

   

   “My new buddy looks at her and in his best Texan says, “honey, bring us two boilermakers and go heavy on the boiler.”  By this time I’m trying to figure out a way to sleep in my compact car in the parking lot. Not being one to temp the fates, I said, “h—ll yes, that calls for a Roll Tide Roll”. We stand up, if stand can be the right description and scream, “Roll Tide Roll.” We got a lot of return Roll Tide Rolls in return.  My new best friend, and a respectable Tide alum, a man of taste, and deep pockets, Said, “Willie, you ever been to Paris?” I told him I had. “Willie, you ever go down to Harry’s Bar in Paris.” I replied I had indeed spent many a blissful night in that bastion of American ex-pats. “And Willie, what is the address?” It is one of those addresses that are well known, and in Paris, and if you know only one sentence in French, it should be ‘Cinc Rue Daunou.

I would like to say that my life had changed, that I had an epiphany, and that all my priorities became clear as spring water. They did for a moment. But it was one of the best moments in my life. I don’t think Auburn fans have moments like that because they are worrying about what Alabama is always doing. We stepped down from our makeshift stage, and our waitress brought over a round of some fined Scottish single malt Oban. My new friend looked at me in all seriousness and said, “Willie, a toast - Too God, Country, and the University of Alabama”.  We both grinned the grins of drunken new friends, and all I could say was “Here, here.”

It had been a fine evening. The air was crisp and the friendship warm. We should all be so lucky once in our life.

** A little side note. I first went to Harry’s when I was 22 years old. I’ve been back many times. My late grandfather, Russell Ellis, told me stories about Harry’s. He was stationed in Paris after the Great War. Older American’s, who still lived in La Lourve, remembered him, told me he always sat in a particular spot, and they took me to that table. To them he was the happy young man who talked like he’d never been out of Dixie. I sat down and had a Blue Lagoon, and imagined my grandfather, the doughboy, drinking and laughing with his friends. The world is indeed a smaller than we believe and we should always treat one another accordingly.

INGRAM AND KENTUCKY ?

INGRAM IS STRICKLY A BACKUP PLAN TO KENTUCKY...




      Kentucky is worried that either Malik Newman, from Calloway, in Jackson, Ms.or another guard prospect from the East Coash may not choose them. Newman has been under tremendous pressure in state to sign with Ole Miss. The Rebels have gone to extraordinary links to get him to Oxford. I believe the kid from NJ is named Briscoe.


Ingram has been told if he will wait until national signing day his position with the Wildcats will be clearer. I have good faith in this source who lives in Oxford, Ms. and is close to the Ole Miss program.


Kentucky has not recruited Dazon Ingram this season. There only contact is one telephone call.

OR IT WOULDN'T SURPRISE ME THAT CALIPARI IS TRYING TO SIMPLY HURT AVERY JOHNSON WHO WILL EVENTUALLY GIVE THE CATS A RUN FOR THEIR MONEY

Late Signing is almost here

Johnson fighting hard for recruits but
late start doesn't help

Dazon Ingram and Johnson visit but no word from Mr. Basktball

   

Nick King is leaving Memphis

    I think we need to be very realistic about the late signing period. Avery Johnson has already proved himself to be hard worker, but he's had little time for that to pay off. I'd be very satisfied if Avery could bring Dazon Ingram into the fold. Things got a little more complicated when John Calipari called Ingram earlier in the week. That tells me that someone on his "show me the money" recruiting list is seriously thinking about another school.

I've seen Dazon Ingram play three games. He is a great athlete, he's about 6-5, perhaps 6-6. He has a very slender frame but he  is packed with muscle. He has good quickness and speed. He is a quick jumper which is sometimes more important than how high a recruit can jump. He also can sky. The left hander has all the tools to be a great player, and he'll have the benefit of being competitive for a starting role now that Tarrant has fled the scene.

       

Brandon Austin - Carver Montgomery

Somehow our other two recruits seem to get lost in the shuffle. They are each very good players, and  could become terrific players. For the record Brandon Austin, Carver of Montgomery, is a 6-5 g/f who reminds me a lot of another Tide star. He's a Latrell Sprewell type. He runs the floor and can finish off players around the basket. Incidentally, all three players are better than three stars. Donta' Hall is now 6-11 and wore out everyone he played this season. He has a lot of upside when he gets to play against better players daily. He is from Luverne, Alabama which is a small AA team. Coach Johnson visited all three of these players earlier in the week. His first stop was Montgomery. He then traveled to Luverne, and ended up the road trip in Theodore.

A call from John Calipari likely has a duel purpose. First, he might actually have some interest in Ingram, but my bet it is to let Avery Johnson know who the 'big general' in the SEC coaches. Calipari is not above signing a prospect simply to deny someone else from getting his name on a LOI. I hope for Dazon's best interest someone is telling him that. I'll be concerned if Calipari and an assistant coach actually visit.

     

Pride of Luverne - Donta Hall

I've been told that both Hall and Austin text Ingram on a regular basis trying to get him to the Capstone. I also know that Grant told Ingram that his losing his job at Alabama should have little to do with his decision. That's a pretty classy thing for Grant to do in my opinion. If Ingram comes back the Tide has had a good year. Three position players who were all the top dogs at their position in Alabama last season. Alabama has also been linked with several transfers. That requires sitting out a year. One has a legitimate chance of getting a waive due to family health issues. None have publicly made statements about Alabama, but it is known that two of the three contacted Johnson to have a talk.

Dazon Ingram - Alabama's Mr. Basketball

Nick King, a Memphis transfer, has been offered by Alabama. He is a former top 100 recruit. He averaged 7.8 ppg, and around 4 rebounds.  He has yet to play up to his potential according  to Memphis news reports. He is 6-7 and around 240 He has visits set with Ole Miss and Arkansas. He has yet to select a date to visit Bama.

We may get a late period recruit. I think Johnson would like to sign someone to show how hard he is working. I also think we need to be realistic this late signing period. Let's hope Johnson and Pettway can persuade Ingram to come to Bama, and not wait for Kentucky to play games.

Tarrant is making mistake leaving Bama

The senior is leaving a unique situation 

  

     Trust me, Ricky. You don’t want to be that guy. Nothing much surprises me in college basketball. When you announced you were transferring it caught me off guard. I’d read some rumors you might transfer. Rumors are always claiming someone is leaving or coming. Ricky, let me very politely tell you this – this is a mistake. I’m told you want to transfer to Texas Southern.  They seem like an affable bunch of kids. They have really good coach in Mike Davis. Someone said you wanted to play your last season with a friend from high school. That sounds like fun. Everyone would like to re-live their high school days from time to time. I assume you are finished with serious basketball. I remember you from high school because I watched you play a lot games.  When you didn’t sign with Alabama I wrote a very long letter to Coach Grant. I also him that I didn’t care that you have Trevor Releford, Levi Randolph, Trevor Lacey, or Earl the Pearl Monroe,  we needed to sign you.

       When you went down to Tulane I thought that you’d be the best player in that league. You probably were. Then you transferred to ‘Bama and I knew we had a two year point guard, and one we could be proud of.  And we were. Trust me, Ricky. You don’t want to be that guy.  You know who I am talking about don’t you? That’s the guy who leaves his teammates when they need a leader. Who is going to be that player – the one who shows the young players how to handle pressure, someone to look up to, and be the leader of his team?  You were going to be the guy who lit the rocket on a new era of Alabama basketball.  It’s not easy losing your coach. He is not coming back. Perhaps Grant may have a new job line up and you want to follow him. That shows loyalty at least. But perhaps their are much bigger lessons to be learned. 

      I think you need to seriously reconsider coming back.  Don’t you think that Avery Johnson can give you a great opportunity to get into the league? He’s going to play a race horse basketball. I remember that 9^th grader who ran like a gazelle on the floor. He understood the game. He had court sense. You either are born with it or never get it. You got an extra dose of it. I remember that silly little grin on your face, the one that made your mama think you were up to no good. You had it at Alabama. You are possibly throwing away your basketball future. Instead, you will be forgotten and unloved by many for leaving. If you leave this bunch of players who stuck together like glue under the most difficult circumstances I’m going to very sad for you. Not upset you understand, but sad for you have one of those rare opportunities to separate yourself from your peers. You could have been the player who laid the foundation for something wonderful. Instead, you are choosing the road most traveled. You are making a mistake. You need to stay home. You have serious responsibilities at the Capstone. You are needed for your leadership, and not just your talent. If you want to take the easy way out you’ll have plenty of company. That is what everyday people do. You have a chance to the guy who stuck around and started something that people will remember forever. Good luck to you. I wish you nothing but the best. You’re leaving a place where you would be better than the best. 

     That is the guy you really want to be. Give it some thought.

  

Top 10 players in Alabama Basketball history...

The Moose - Jerry Harper      

     It is difficult to compare players in different eras. Each generation tends to believe that the years they observed the game was the best. I know longer even try. This is going to be the first in a series on my picks of the top ten players who wore the Crimson and White. I’m not going to rank them now. At the end I’ll put down in the order I think they merit.

       

Jerry Harper still leads
the Tide in career rebounds

  Jerry Harper was 6-8 inches tall and weighed around 220 lbs.  He played at the University of Alabama from 1952-56.  His friends called him Moose. His opponents called him a holy terror. At one time he held 16 of the 18 official records kept by the SEC in his era. That's how good he was. He was a bull of a young man. I can remember him being the tallest human I’d ever seen at the age of 9 years. I can also remember him taking the time to shake my hand and ask me if I was going to play at Alabama one day. “I hope”, was all I could muster. Harper still leads the Crimson Tide in rebounding even thought the last game he played was almost 50 years ago. He still holds the SEC record for rebounds, and it is a record that will never be broken in all likelihood. That surreal number is 1806. Think about that for a moment. That is over 400 hundred a year. Some years his team only played 24 games.

Three Time All-American ...

  

          He was a Second Team All-American his freshman year. After that he was First Team All-American. He averaged more than 20 points per game for his career. The only three point plays in his days were the old fashioned kind. His senior year he scored 21.3 ppg and an unbelievable 21.5 rebounds an outing. I don’t care what era you played. Those numbers are astonishing.  He played for a great coach, Johnny Dee, whose excellence seems to be lost in Alabama basketball history. Harper played for the nationally prominent Rocket Eight which was named after an Oldsmobile.  Harper was the rocket engine on that team. Harper’s team was the first team to score over 100 points against Kentucky. He wasn’t recruited by Kentucky, and Harper made sure they remembered their error.  He as a First Team All-American his junior and senior years. He is the only player from Alabama to hold that accomplishment. He is member Sports Hall of Fan. 

Hard to understand how great Harper was ...

   

    It is difficult to explain how good Harper really was. He was huge for his day. He was so strong it was amazing, and he could jump. He was a goor free throw shooter who got over 480 chances in his career. He could make jump shots, but if he got you down low and his back was to the basket he was going to score.  Stats were a little different in those days. What percentage did he actually shoot? I’d say over 45%. He scored, or if he missed he frequently got his own rebound and then scored. Other players would actually step out of his way when he went up for a rebound. He had razor sharp elbows and knew how to use them. He was my first hero.  Could he play today? He certainly would start for most Alabama teams since his day. If he played this season he would have been the best player on the team. Alabama would have made the NCAA and could have had a run. He was ahead of his time. He was a great athlete and an even better basketball player. Any list of the top 10 players in Alabama history would not be credible without Moose. He died in 2001 at the age of 67 after fighting cancer for a decade. I can still see his smiling face and that flat-top haircut. I got my hair cut just like his because I idolized him. He was friendly and outgoing until he stepped on the court.  He then became a machine who mowed down anything in his way. He called me “little Bill”.  His presence is a fresh in my mind as Levi Randolph is today. He was a man among children. I'm not sure Alabama has ever had a more complete player than Jerry Harper.

Coach Johnson nails it...
Tide fans in heaven right now
    

The great Adolph was once asked if his Kentucky Wildcats had played a perfect game. They had just ground some poor SEC team between the cracks in the hardwood.  Rupp, who was not known for his bubbly personality, said absolutely not. When asked what would be a perfect game, he replied that it would be a game where his team all of their shots, got all the rebounds the other team missed. He said the other team couldn’t score. His team couldn’t have a turnover.

I don’t know exactly how you rate a press conference.  I’d say that Avery Johnson came as close behind the microphone at his press conference as Rupp described earlier. It was that good. If any Alabama fan had a single misgiving about Johnson you should now lay them to rest. What more could want to hear from you new coach? I think he made all his points, thanked everyone involved that had anything to do with his success, got choked up talking about his college coach, and touched the hearts of anyone who loves the Tide. I know that my goose bumps had goose bumps. Next season cannot start soon enough for my liking.

Johnson made it clear who was going to dominate in state recruiting. Don’t bet against him on that one. Avery talked about make young men better people. He talked about the ethics of hard work. He then laid out the standard of what he wanted ‘Bama to be. He said that Duke was the team that he would measure his performance against. He thanked AD Battle for his six year contract, but added he didn’t that much time to be successful. He acknowledged the contributions of C.M. Newton and the legendary Wimp Sanderson. He told us that we are part of the plan for Bama basketball to succeed. He put the same type responsibility on the fans as he did for himself.

     I’m happy. At age 67 and more than 1200 games under my belt, I was beginning to wonder if I would ever see more glory from the Crimson Tide. I’m most happiest for our fans between the ages of 18 and around 30 years old. You guys haven’t seen the things some of us have been lucky enough to experience. You don’t know what’s it’s  like to sit on an airplane and talk to another basketball fan knowing that you can talk about hoops as well as football.  I’m sorry you guys missed my old buddies Tom and Jerry, who dressed in red overalls and had those Tide soap boxes and toilet paper on a stick. It is unfortunate that you weren’t around to see such players as T.R. Dunn, Charles Cleveland, or Derrick McKey. I can’t name them all. To have watched Wimp Sanderson dance in the corner of the coaches’ box was amazing. He was like a dancer with a scowl.  My heritage is Scottish. Those were not plaid jackets. They were tartan, and yes, he had one from Clan McGregor. Some of you may have seen a few good days under Mark, David, and Anthony. Those years were not devoid of success or excitement. But they were far short of what had happened before.

I’ve seen Glen Garrett make a basket that started the definition of Tide post season play. I saw George Linn loft a shot that disappeared in the rafters of old Foster, only to see it reappear for a perfect landing. Wow. I saw the great Jerry Harper play, who might just be the best player ever to play for Alabama. I saw the Rocket Eight play when I was so young that my father had to explain special to me. I’ve seen all that and more. I’ve been blessed to go on trips with our team. I love Alabama basketball. I’ve seen a lot of things to love. I hope all of you younger fans can experience the same things under Coach Johnson as some of us have already seen. I’m betting you will. And I’m betting it starts sooner as opposed to later.

"Get ready and fasten your seat belts. You are going to
see something you've never seen." Avery Johnson

Johnson keeps Pettway to approval of the 'Bama Nation...
The more you hear about AJ the better it sounds...

Antoine Pettway retained

    The more I read about Avery Johnson the more there is to like. His players like him. His staff likes him. One thing he has just done to bind the Bama past with the future is to keep Antoine Pettway. Pettway may be the most beloved player to suit up at the Capstone.  I can close my eyes and see those ruby red basketball shoes, and watching him sneak backdoor to beat Florida for the SEC Championship. Ernest Shelton hit him with a spectacular pass through traffic to kill the Gators. It remains the only time I can remember when Tide fans rushed the floor. Pettway wore #50. Too big a number for such a small player. Maybe the staff measured his heart when they gave him his number. That pass, #5 to #50, is one of the most cherished memories in my long association with Alabama basketball. You want to see the little man smile?  Walk up to him and ask him if he remembers #5 to #50 and watch him show you those 'pearlie whites.' 

 

Ingram announces the 13th

   I don't want people to think that the retention of Pettway is just about trying to keep Dazon Ingram headed to Tuscaloosa. That may be a reason, but not the only reason. Pettway is a good recruiter, and a good floor coach as well. He was also the coach that cracked the whip with the players when one was needed. Ingram is underrated and his a tremendous upside. The three tide commitments play different positions and have different skills. I think all three are not rated highly enough. I'd say each is a four star players with five star potential. Ingram, in particular will benefit from AJ as the head man. So will the other two. Who knows what additional assistants he will bring to the party. I'd look for at least one coach who can specialize on inside players. Grant got commitments from three different position players. He got a combo guard, a post player, and small forward. That's a good haul for Johnson to start with. I expect him to maybe surprise the Tide fans with one player, although that is merely conjecture on my part. The dead period extends through the April 9th at noon.