Byrne Picks New Bama Baseball Head Coach
Brad Bohannon To Be Formally Introduced On Monday
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| Brad Bohannon named new UA Baseball head coach Photo Credit: UA Athletics |
TUSCALOOSA, Alabama – University of Alabama Director of Athletics Greg Byrne has announced that Brad Bohannon, the 2015 American Baseball Coaches Association and Baseball America National Assistant Coach of the Year, has been named head baseball coach at UA. Byrne made the announcement on Thursday. Byrne plans a formal announcement and introduction of the Bohannon hire at a press conference on Monday. Bohannon will become the 32nd head baseball coach of the Crimson Tide.
In his statement, Byrne said, "I am excited to announce that we have reached an agreement with Brad Bohannon to be our new head baseball coach at The University of Alabama. As we began the search and studied our successful rosters from the past regional and College World Series teams, it became apparent that we needed our head coach to be very strong in recruiting in the state Alabama, the Southeast and then completing the roster with national recruits. The vision that Brad shared for Alabama baseball matched that recruiting philosophy and coupled it with a great coaching pedigree and a commitment to the student-athlete, both as a baseball player and as a well-rounded student. We are confident that he will be able to lead our program to championship levels, which we all value here at Alabama."
Bohannon boasts a complete resume, and brings 14 years of Southeastern Conference coaching experience to Alabama. He served as an assistant coach for the Kentucky Wildcats from 2004-15 and, most recently, at Auburn University from 2016-17. He is regarded as one of the best recruiters in the country, and was personally responsible for recruiting and signing 13 Wildcat student-athletes that eventually went on to play professionally in the big leagues, including 2014 Golden Spikes Award winner A.J. Reed. Bohannan was responsible for the No. 9 recruiting class at AU according to Collegiate Baseball and includes six current starting position players.
Bohannon commented, "This is the opportunity of a lifetime, and I cannot wait to get started. My goal is to make The University of Alabama the best baseball experience in the country. We're going to recruit at the highest level, coach and develop our student-athletes and create a positive team culture that ultimately will help us to be successful. Every aspect of our program will play an important part, and Alabama has incredible resources to help us reach our goals. I truly believe we can accomplish anything here."
It's all about recruiting quality players in college baseball, and It should be noted that all of Bohannon's recruiting classes have been ranked in the top 25 since 2008. That 2008 class was ranked nationally at No. 4, the 2009 class at No. 6, the 2010 class at No. 16, the 2011 class at No. 25, the 2012 class at No. 11, the 2013 class at No. 25, the 2014 class at No. 16 and both the 2015 and 2016 were ranked at No. 9. He has signed recruits from 25 different states and Canada, three of which have gone on to be first round picks in the MLB draft.
Bohannon began his collegiate career playing at Vanderbilt University and Georgia Tech before finishing up at Berry. He is a native of Rome, Georgia and is married to the former Kim Traylor.
Coaching Experience:
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2001-02 |
Wake Forest |
Assistant Coach |
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2004-05 |
Kentucky |
Assistant Coach |
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2005-15 |
Kentucky |
Assistant Coach/Recruiting Coordinator |
|
2016-17 |
Auburn |
Assistant Coach |
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SEC Announces 2018 UA Men's Basketball Opponents
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| University of Alabama's Coleman Coliseum Photo Credit: UA Athletcs |
DESTIN, Florida –The Southeastern Conference spring meeting is being held in Destin, Florida this week, with all sorts of events and topics being covered. One of those was the announcement of each school's SEC men's basketball schedules. The University of Alabama men's basketball team is scheduled to play home-and-home conference games against Auburn, Florida, LSU,
Mississippi State and Texas A&M during the 2018 season.
Besides these home-and-home matchups, Bama will play home games against Arkansas, Missouri, South Carolina and Tennessee, while road games include Georgia, Kentucky, Ole Miss and Vanderbilt. Dates for the 2018 conference schedule will be announced at a later time.
Besides these home-and-home matchups, Bama will play home games against Arkansas, Missouri, South Carolina and Tennessee, while road games include Georgia, Kentucky, Ole Miss and Vanderbilt. Dates for the 2018 conference schedule will be announced at a later time.
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Crimson Tide Swimmer Anton McKee Receives Honor
Named SEC Male Scholar-Athlete Of The Year
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| Photo Credit: UA Athletics |
DESTIN, Florida – The University of Alabama is known as an athletic department of champions, both as a team as well as individuals. The latest honor has been bestowed upon Crimson Tide swimmer Anton McKee. McKee has been named as the 2017 H. Boyd McWhorter Male Southeastern
Conference Scholar-Athlete of the Year during the league's annual awards
banquet held on Thursday night at the SEC spring meeting in Destin, Florida.
McKee graduated in May with a degree in management information systems and achieved a 4.0 grade point average while completing his Bama career in April as the 2017 NCAA 200 breaststroke runner-up. He also earned multiple CoSIDA Academic All-America honors while helping lead Alabama to three consecutive NCAA top-10 finishes.
University of Alabama Director of Athletics Greg Byrne said, "As he proved again tonight, Anton is a tremendous ambassador for The University of Alabama and our Athletics Department. He is someone who worked extremely hard from day one to be his very best in all aspects of the collegiate experience, which is why he is the epitome of what we look for in a student-athlete at Alabama."
Among those present to present the honor to McKee were Byrne, Alabama President Dr. Stuart Bell, Faculty Athletics Representative Dr. James King and Senior Associate Athletics Director and swimming and diving administrator Marie Robbins.
UA now boasts the most honorees in the award's 32-year history with 11. The Crimson Tide has earned eight honors since 2000, the most in the SEC over that span. McKee's win also puts Alabama in first place when it comes to the men's side of the slate with six.
Byrne commented, "Throughout his career, Anton continued a Crimson Tide tradition of overall excellence that has resulted in an SEC-best 11 of our men and women being named the H. Boyd McWhorter SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year. To lead the SEC in this singular honor is a great accomplishment for our University and a point of great pride for the Alabama family."
McKee joins Julie Estin (1987, gymnastics), Jeff Laubenthal (1992, baseball), Meredith Willard (1997, gymnastics), Kristin Sterner (2003, gymnastics), Lauren Imwalle (2004, soccer), Emeel Salem (2007, baseball), Joseph Sykora (2008, golf), Barrett Jones (2013, football), Cory Whitsett (2014, golf) and Haylie McCleney (2016, softball) to win the award.
McKee said,"I share this award with my teammates. Their encouragement, inspiration and continued brotherhood helped me grow not only as an athlete, but as a person and together we brought Alabama Swimming and Diving to new heights. To my coaches, Dennis Pursley, Will Leonhart and our entire staff, thank you for believing in me and giving me the opportunity to succeed."
McKee graduated in May with a degree in management information systems and achieved a 4.0 grade point average while completing his Bama career in April as the 2017 NCAA 200 breaststroke runner-up. He also earned multiple CoSIDA Academic All-America honors while helping lead Alabama to three consecutive NCAA top-10 finishes.
University of Alabama Director of Athletics Greg Byrne said, "As he proved again tonight, Anton is a tremendous ambassador for The University of Alabama and our Athletics Department. He is someone who worked extremely hard from day one to be his very best in all aspects of the collegiate experience, which is why he is the epitome of what we look for in a student-athlete at Alabama."
Among those present to present the honor to McKee were Byrne, Alabama President Dr. Stuart Bell, Faculty Athletics Representative Dr. James King and Senior Associate Athletics Director and swimming and diving administrator Marie Robbins.
UA now boasts the most honorees in the award's 32-year history with 11. The Crimson Tide has earned eight honors since 2000, the most in the SEC over that span. McKee's win also puts Alabama in first place when it comes to the men's side of the slate with six.
Byrne commented, "Throughout his career, Anton continued a Crimson Tide tradition of overall excellence that has resulted in an SEC-best 11 of our men and women being named the H. Boyd McWhorter SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year. To lead the SEC in this singular honor is a great accomplishment for our University and a point of great pride for the Alabama family."
McKee joins Julie Estin (1987, gymnastics), Jeff Laubenthal (1992, baseball), Meredith Willard (1997, gymnastics), Kristin Sterner (2003, gymnastics), Lauren Imwalle (2004, soccer), Emeel Salem (2007, baseball), Joseph Sykora (2008, golf), Barrett Jones (2013, football), Cory Whitsett (2014, golf) and Haylie McCleney (2016, softball) to win the award.
McKee said,"I share this award with my teammates. Their encouragement, inspiration and continued brotherhood helped me grow not only as an athlete, but as a person and together we brought Alabama Swimming and Diving to new heights. To my coaches, Dennis Pursley, Will Leonhart and our entire staff, thank you for believing in me and giving me the opportunity to succeed."
