Alabama Basketball's Braxton Key Declares
For 2017 NBA Draft
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| Braxton Key Alabama Men's Basketball Photo Credit: UA Athletics |
Key led the Crimson Tide this past season in scoring (12.0 ppg) and minutes (29.8) per game, double-figure scoring games (20) and games scoring more than 20 points (3), while ranking second on the team in assists (2.5 apg) and rebounding (5.7 rpg). Key was also named to the SEC All-Freshman Team.
In Southeastern Conference play, Key ranked 17th in league games only with 14.0 points per game, and came in 14th with 6.1 rebounds per contest. He was named the SEC's freshman of the week on January 30th after leading Bama victories over the Georgia Bulldogs on January 25th and the Mississippi State Bulldogs on January 28th. In that pair of contests he averaged 22.5 points and 9.0 rebounds, while shooting 11-of-24 (45.8 percent) from the floor, 4-of-8 (50.0 percent) from three-point land and 19-of-27 (70.8 percent) from the foul line.
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Alabama Basketball Holds Annual Banquet
Improvement was evident in the Crimson Tide, as Alabama completed the 2016-17 season with a final record of 19-15 overall and 10-8 in Southeastern Conference play. The Tide men's basketball team reached the National Invitation Tournament for the second consecutive year under UA men's basketball head coach Avery Johnson (and for the 15th time overall). The Tide's finish in the SEC this past season was a five-place improvement over Johnson's first season, coming in fifth-place, up from 10th last season. Alabama's five-place rise in the standings was second only to Florida's six-place jump from the previous season. It was the Tide's best finish in the Southeastern Conference since a fourth-place finish back in the 2012-13 season.
The 2016-17 Alabama men's basketball team welcomed members of the Tuscaloosa Tip-Off Club and Tide Pride. Following dinner, last night's master of ceremonies Chris Stewart (Crimson Tide Sport Network's play-by-play announcer), introduced University of Alabama Director of Athletics Greg Byrne. Byrne then addressed the crowd to thank them for their support of the 2016-17 men's basketball team. Following that, Coach Johnson then presented individual awards to members of the team.
Freshman forward Braxton Key was presented with the Outstanding Freshman Award, while redshirt freshman guard Dazon Ingram was named Outstanding Offensive Player of the Year. The pair led the Crimson Tide offensively throughout the 2016-17 campaign, with Key averaging team highs of 12.0 points per game, 20 double-figure scoring games and 29.8 minutes a contest. He also ranked second in assists (2.5) and rebounds (5.7). Meanwhile, Ingram ranked second in scoring (10.6 ppg) and led the Tide in assists (3.3 apg), steals (0.9 spg) and 3-point shooting (.429). Incidentally, Ingram was the only UA player to start all 34 games this past season.
The duo of Key and Ingram combined to score 33 percent of the team's point output, 767 points, with Key scoring 407 points and Ingram pumping in 360 points. Key's 407 ranks seventh for most points scored among all UA freshmen in program history, while Ingram's total is 14th. Also of note, the pair's combined total ranks as the third-best scoring output by freshmen teammates in Alabama men's basketball history.
Winning the Outstanding Defensive Player Award was graduate senior Bolan Olaniyan. It was Avery Johnson, Jr. taking home the Most Improved Player Award last evening. Graduate senior Corban Collins earned the Coach Avery Award, given in recognition of attitude and effort throughout the course of the season. Also Jimmie Taylor, Collins and Olaniyan received special recognition as the team's departing seniors.
Receiving a Student Academic Achievement Award were Collins, Olaniyan, Key, Taylor, Daniel Giddens and Landon Fuller, while Key, Brandon Austin and Lawson Schaffer each were named recipients of the Commitment to Service Award.
Congratulations of the student-athletes, coaches, managers and all involved with the 2016-17 University of Alabama men's basketball team.
*All basketball photos courtesy of UA Athletics/Kent Gidley*
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Alabama Gymnasts Earn National Honors
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| Photo Credit: UA Athletics |
The University of Alabama is now the only school in the nation to finish in the top-six nationally the last 10 consecutive years. It was also the Tide's NCAA-best 33rd top-six finish at the national championships.
Bama senior Katie Bailey closed out her career with the Tide with her second individual NCAA title and first on the uneven bars. The 2016 NCAA vault champion came back to win the uneven bars in 2017. UA gymnasts have now captured 27 individual NCAA titles, with Bailey becoming the seventh Tide gymnast to win multiple NCAA titles.
Bailey commented, "To win a national championship on bars meant a lot to me because that's my favorite event. And to have my team there cheering me on and my coaches by my side made it all the more special."
Bailey also captured championship All-America honors on the uneven bars for the fourth consecutive year.
Crimson Tide junior Kiana Winston picked up three championship All-American honors in 2017, including first-team honors in the all-around as second-team placement on the uneven bars and floor exercise. Senior Aja Sims garnered First Team All-America honors on the balance beam while Keely McNeer, a balance beam All-American as a sophomore, finished her Alabama career as a Second Team All-American on the uneven bars.
In addition to the championship All-America honors earned this past weekend, three Bama gymnasts earned regular season All-America honors. Junior Nickie Guerrero picked up first-team honors on the balance beam while Sims earned second-team honors on the floor exercise. Winston is one of just three gymnasts in the nation to earn more than three regular season All-America honors in 2017. She earned first-team recognition in the all-around, balance beam and floor exercise while capturing second team on the uneven bars.
A total of 71 Alabama gymnasts have earned Championship All-America honors, while eight Alabama gymnasts have earned regular season All-America honors since the award's inception in 2013.
Championship All-America honors are determined by individual finishes in the semifinal round of the NCAA Championships. Those who finish in the top four (including ties) of a session earn first-team honors while those finishing in the next four (including ties) earn second team.
Regular season All-America honors are based on the final regional qualifying scores of the season with the those ranked in the top eight (including ties) on each event and in the all-around earning first team and those ranked in the next eight (including ties) being named second team.
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Latest Alabama Track & Field Rankings
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| Photo Credit: UA Athletics |
The national team rankings are compiled by a mathematical formulae based on national descending order lists and data taken from previous seasons. The purpose and methodology of the rankings is to create an index that showcases the teams that have the best potential of achieving the top spots in the national team race. Ranking points do not equate with NCAA Championships team points.
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| Photo Credit: UA Athletics |
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Bama Baseball Hosts Alcorn State Tonight
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| Photo Credit: UA Athletics |
TUSCALOOSA, Alabama – University of Alabama baseball will close out its five-game
homestand against Alcorn State tonight at Sewell-Thomas Stadium in Tuscaloosa. The Crimson Tide and Braves are scheduled for a 6
p.m. CT start. This non-conference matchup will be broadcast live on the SEC
Network+ with Eli Gold and Lance Cormier calling the contest.
This will be the 22nd meeting between the two clubs, with Bama holding a 20-1 all-time record in a series dating back to 1987. All 21 contests have been played in T-town.
Alabama will start freshman Deacon Medders on the mound tonight.
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Celebrity Birthdays
4/18/17
Sophie Grace Brownlee, Singer, 14
Kourtney Kardashian, Reality TV, 38
David Tennant, Actor, 46
Nathan Sykes, Singer, 24
Britt Robertson, Actress, 24
Moises Arias, Actor, 23
Miguel Cabrera, Baseball player, 34
Chloe Bennet, Actress, 25
Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Actress, 35
Conan O'Brien, TV host, 54
Melissa Joan Hart, Actress, 41
James Woods, Actor, 70
Haley Mills, Actor, 71
Rick Moranis, Actor, 64
Eric Roberts, Actor, 61
Melody Scott Thomas, Actress, 61
