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Men's Basketball
Coach Avery Johnson Excited
Fan Response Phenomenal
Photo Credit: RollTide.com
Alabama head basketball coach Avery Johnson was where you pretty much expected him to be Saturday...roaming the sidelines and enjoying the football game as Alabama handily defeated MTSU 37-10. Sideline reporter Laura Rutledge spoke to Coach Johnson.
When asked how the fan reception had been for the new basketball coach, Johnson said, "The fan reception has been phenomenal." He spoke of two things he was sure of, "Roll Tide and buckle up!" he said.
"The fan reception has been great, and more than anything Coach Nick Saban and his staff has been very critical to my transition here to the University of Alabama," he continued. "They've been helping us in all three phases of the game...from recruiting, academic and athletics."
When asked by Rutledge what he had to say about the excitement about basketball this time of year, Johnson responded, "From what I've heard from our students, our fans and all of our supporters...the University of Alabama...the excitement around basketball right now has never been as high as it is, especially during this time of the season, which is obviously football season. So we really appreciate it. My coaching staff has been working hard, our players have been working hard...but again, it's been a collaborative effort between football and basketball and all sports here at the University of Alabama."
Rutledge brought up the redesign, moving fans closer to the game in the new "redesign" in seating inside Coleman Coliseum this season. When asked what fans can expect, and the fan experience this season Johnson responded, "Yeah, and it's not just the fans, it's our students. We moved about 2,000 of our students closer to the action, across from the visitor's bench and they're excited about it. Yesterday I went and talked to our Million Dollar Band...we're going to have a bigger band this year. So we're making improvements all across the board. We're remodeling a lot of our players lounges, the locker rooms, my offices...we're really excited where we're taking this program."
Avery Johnson has shown more excitement and enthusiasm for Alabama basketball in the short time he's been here than the last coach showed over his entire tenure. It's good to have coach Johnson, and his entire staff, representing the University of Alabama. He has a great group of men to assist in leading the Crimson Tide back to respectability.
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Bama Soccer Posts Another Win
Defeats Southern Miss 1-0
The University of Alabama soccer team won its second consecutive match last, defeating the Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles 1-0 at the Alabama Soccer Complex. It was sophomore Lacey Clarida with the night's only goal, coming off a corner kick from fellow sophomore Hailey Brohaugh. The Crimson Tide moves to 3-3-2 on the season. Southern Miss fell to 2-2-3.
Head soccer coach Wes Hart said, "I'm really pleased to come out of the weekend with two wins. This was not an easy win for us. We expended a lot of energy in our win against LSU on Friday night. To be able to bounce back both physically and mentally says a lot about our team."
The Crimson Tide out shot the Golden Eagles 22-6. This was Bama's fourth shutout of the season for senior goalkeeper Emily Rusk.
"For the second straight game we were able to generate some quality scoring opportunities," Hart continued. "We did a great job of finding pockets of space and really controlled the tempo and dominated possession."
Clarida got her first goal of the season in the 51st minute of the game. Hart said, "Really happy to see Lacey get her first goal of the season. I know she's been putting a lot of pressure on herself. Hailey served a nice ball across and Lacey did a fantastic job of attacking it."
The Tide continues its four-game homestand. Both Kentucky and Jacksonville State come calling this next week. Both matches are scheduled for 6 p.m. CT. The matches can be watch over SECN+.
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Men's Golf
Alabama Finishes 6th At Carpet Collegiate Classic
Photo Credit: RollTide.com
The Alabama men's golf team struggled Sunday, but managed to finish sixth overall in the 54-hole Carpet Collegiate Classic. Bama's team total for the even was 895 (289-289-317).
"It never feels good to play poorly, and to play poorly on Sunday with a chance to win makes it even worse," head golf coach Jay Seawell said. "It was a tough day today (Sunday). We will have to learn from it, build on what we did well the first two rounds , which were really good things, and get back after it. We won’t have much time to dwell on this one with another tournament this weekend, so how we handle this adversity will be a measure of what kind of team we have. We are looking forward to returning home and getting a couple of days of work in before we return to the road."
Bama was without the services of two-time All-American Robby Shelton, who is in Lancashire, England competing as a member of the 2015 United States Walker Cup team. Shelton returns to Alabama’s lineup for next weekend’s tournament. Incidentally, he finished the Walker Cup with a 1-1-2 record as the U.S. fell to Great Britain & Ireland.
Seawell said, "With Robby not playing with us, it gave us an opportunity to see a little bit more of our team early. There were a lot of positives in that. If we missed anything from Robby not being there, it was missing him as our anchor player who gives us consistent good scores. I am really proud of what he was able to do and accomplish and we look forward to getting him back in the lineup next weekend.
"I am pleased with how the guys played while Robby was gone. There were a lot of good things we saw from our younger guys this week and we have to build from them. We will learn from today and won’t let that beat us, but we are also going to remember some of the good things that gave us the lead going into the final round."
The Crimson Tide men's golf team returns to action next weekend when they head to Olympia Fields, Illinois to compete at the Olympia Fields/Fighting Illini Invitional on September 18-20.
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Associate Press Top 25
It seems like only yesterday there were 10 SEC teams in the A.P. Top-25 college football poll. Today there are only six. Alabama heads the SEC coming in at No. 2 nationally, followed by Georgia (7), LSU (13), Ole Miss (15), Texas A&M (17), Auburn (18) and Missouri (22).
Waiting in the wings are Mississippi State, Tennessee and Arkansas. All lost their games yesterday.
Here is a look at the latest Associated Press college football rankings.
1. Ohio State
2. Alabama
3. TCU
4. Michigan State
5. Baylor
6. USC
7. Georgia
8. Notre Dame
9. Florida State
10. UCLA
11. Clemson
12. Oregon
13. LSU
14. Georgia Tech
15. Ole Miss
16. Oklahoma
17. Texas A&M
18. Auburn
19. Brigham Young
20. Arizona
21. Utah
22. Missouri
23. Northwestern
24. Wisconsin
25. Oklahoma State
Other Schools Receiving Votes:
