Alabama State Softball

Posted: Jul 20, 2024 8:31 PM CDT

by
WAKA Action 8 News

After former Head Softball Coach Todd Bradley recently stepped down to focus on his health, Alabama State names Camise Patterson the 8th Head Coach of the program. The announcement was made by Alabama State University Vice President and Director of Intercollegiate Athletics, Dr. Jason Cable.

“I am beyond excited to welcome Camise to the Bama State family,” Cable said. “What she did in a relatively short time at FAMU was remarkable. As we got to know Camise during this process, her core values, passion for the game, and the student-athlete experience directly aligned with what we want to accomplish at ASU. The future of Bama State softball is bright under her leadership.”

Last season Patterson was the Head Coach of the Florida A&M Rattlers where she helped lead them to a SWAC East Division Title. Patterson was also last season’s SWAC Coach of the Year.

“I am deeply honored and grateful to be the next Head Softball Coach at Alabama State University,” Patterson said. “Being able to continue coaching the sport I love is a true blessing from God. I want to extend my sincere thanks to Dr. Cable and the search committee for their confidence in my abilities and this incredible opportunity. I’m excited to build on the program’s past success and look forward to being part of the SWARM!”

Throughout Patterson’s time at Florida A&M University she was elevated from volunteer to assistant coach to head coach. Before Florida A&M, Patterson also had a brief coaching stop at Bethune-Cookman in 2020.

Patterson played college softball at Campbell University.

(Information from Alabama State University)

NORTH AUGUSTA, S.C. — Jasper Johnson’s recruitment is winding down, a decision likely coming in the next month, and his commitment could be a litmus test of sorts for three of the biggest brands in college basketball: Kentucky, North Carolina and Alabama. Also known as his … parents’ alma mater, the other shade of blue blood and the SEC’s new powerhouse.

Johnson, a top-10 prospect in the 2025 high school class, grew up 15 minutes from Rupp Arena, the son of Dennis, a local legend and former football star at Kentucky. New Wildcats coach Mark Pope badly wants Johnson to become his first five-star commitment, proof that Pope can land the kind of elite talent predecessor John Calipari hoarded for the past 15 years. He isn’t taking for granted that a blue-chipper sprouted right in the program’s backyard.

“He’s definitely got to get — he wants to get — that first big piece,” Dennis said. “He went to see Jasper play with USA Basketball in Argentina. He sat down with us in his office on a visit and talked for two hours. He called me the other day, and we talked for 45 minutes. He’s made it very, very clear that he wants Jasper to be the first piece of this recruiting class.”

Pope’s problem? This doesn’t appear to be a 2-foot putt. Despite Johnson’s proximity to the program and his family’s allegiance — his mother is “the biggest Kentucky fan,” a cousin of former UK football star Craig Yeast — Johnson grew up a North Carolina basketball fan.

“We went to Kentucky games when he was young, but he wasn’t just a diehard,” Dennis said. “He’s a different kid. Being this close, he understands what the lure of Kentucky basketball is, but he just loves watching basketball, period, and he always really liked Carolina. Once he met Hubert Davis, he just thinks he’s a great guy. I talk to that staff every single day. We went to the Carolina-Duke game, and it’s one of the best things I’ve ever been to in my life. Him seeing that, being on the front row for that, I think just pricked something in his brain.”

And then there are the rising Tide. Under Nate Oats, Alabama won the SEC in 2021 and 2023, reached the program’s first Final Four last season and has produced six NBA draft picks during the past four years, including No. 2 overall Brandon Miller in 2023. Oats and his electric offense have become attractive to top transfers and five-star recruits. Now he has a chance to deliver an early blow to the approval rating for Kentucky’s new coach.

Jasper Johnson (2) is being recruited by three of the biggest brands in college basketball: Kentucky, North Carolina and Alabama. (Stu Boyd II / USA Today)

“Their style of play is very big,” Dennis said. “Nate has talked a lot to him about style of play and analytics. We got a chance to talk to Brandon Miller, and he said, ‘I didn’t really become a greater player; it’s just that I stopped taking dumb shots because their analytics helped me know which shots were better.’ And they’re coming off a Final Four. I mean, come on. Nate’s sitting in his office pointing to the draft guys on his wall and the trophies, saying, ‘Listen, you’re not going to be an experiment for me. I’ve already done this.’”

Alabama assistant Preston Murphy is an elite recruiter, and “I’ve talked to Preston every day for two months,” Dennis said.

Pope is being welcomed to the world of big-time recruiting. Johnson has taken official visits to the three biggest contenders, plus Missouri and Illinois — and he might still sneak in an official visit to Arkansas, Calipari’s new home, before the decision. Louisville and Baylor are pushing for visits. Recruiting in these waters, there are no gimmes. Pope happens to be Johnson’s only serious suitor without proof of concept, having won zero NCAA Tournament games and coached zero NBA draft picks.

“That’s always a question mark in my head,” Johnson said.

But that’s not necessarily a deal-breaker.

“The day we went over there for a visit, that night, I went up to his room, and he was in there watching some BYU videos,” Dennis said. “He’s kind of trying to figure it out, envision how they’ll use him. That’s definitely the style he wants to play. It’s going to be super tough to decide because right now, Alabama, Kentucky and Carolina are probably neck-and-neck.”

Both Alabama and North Carolina have signed friends and former teammates of Johnson’s. Oats was the first high-major coach to start seriously recruiting him, back in the summer before his freshman season in high school. It’s not hard to understand why Johnson might leave home for college, but there are things those places just can’t offer.

“My mom wants me to stay home,” Johnson said. “She’s proud of me wherever I go, doesn’t really put any pressure on me to stay home. (But) Coach Pope has really been pushing to me that I’m one of the best guards in the country, if not the best — that he’s wanting me to stay home but also prioritizing me because I’m one of the best players in the class. He always pitches to me that he wants to win a banner as well, and he sees me coming in and being a big impact from day one. Hearing that is good.”

The Johnson family is hearing a lot of things lately. Dennis connected with former Kentucky star Jeff Sheppard, whose son, Reed, just traveled the path from homegrown hero to Wildcats star to a one-and-done lottery pick, for advice on how to handle the circus. Sheppard also happens to be Pope’s old roommate at Kentucky.

“He’s been very helpful to us. He always says, ‘Do what’s best for Jasper,’” Dennis said. “It’s almost time. He’ll decide sooner than later. Whether he goes to Kentucky or he doesn’t, I want him to make the best decision for him, where he feels most comfortable. Everybody I see, whether I’m out walking or working out or in the store, talks about Kentucky. But my dad let me make my own decision and he has to make his own.”

(Top photo: Stu Boyd II / USA Today)

Robert Crowley is a U.S. Army veteran, and volunteer with the Paralyzed Veterans of America and Mid-South chapter representative.

He’s described in a lawsuit as a devoted father, grandfather and great-grandfather. But 27 years ago in 1997, he was convicted of attempted murder. Though he’s a registered voter in Alabama, his ability to vote on Nov. 5 is in doubt because of a new Alabama law that could disqualify him and many others from voting.

It’s also a new law that is confusing and unconstitutional, according to a lawsuit filed Wednesday in Montgomery County Circuit Court that challenges the law – which was HB100 in the Alabama Legislature this spring – before absentee voting begins in September.

“Every American should be able to exercise their freedom to vote, regardless of whether they have a past felony conviction,” said Blair Bowie, director of the Campaign Legal Center’s Restore Your Vote program.

CLC, along with Montgomery attorney J. Mitch McGuire, filed the lawsuit that seeks to block HB100 from being implemented.

“HB100 makes an already confusing voting rights restoration process in Alabama even harder to navigate,” Bowie said.

Expanding Moral turpitude

The intent of HB100, sponsored by Democratic Rep. Adline Clark of Mobile, was to protect election workers by adding crimes against election workers and other election officials to a list of disqualifying felonies that can strip someone’s ability to vote.

But before the bill’s passage, lawmakers amended it to add six more felonies as crimes of moral turpitude – a designation that means those convicted are disqualified from voting.

Four additional categories of felonies for “inchoate” crimes, such as attempted crimes and conspiracies, were also added to the list.

According to the lawsuit, HB100 “effectively adds over 120 new disenfranchising state convictions to the list of felonies involving moral turpitude. Before HB100, that list included only approximately 40 disenfranchising state felonies.”

“More Alabamians with prior felony convictions have been able to vote since 2017,” Bowie said, referring to the year that state lawmakers adopted the Felony Voter Disqualification Act that defined the more than 40 crimes – including murder, rape, assault, sexual abuse – as crimes of moral turpitude.

The lawsuit’s two plaintiffs – Crowley and JaiGregory Clarke, a community organizer in Jefferson County – have attempted murder convictions and would be disqualified from voting under the new law.

Questionable timing

The biggest question raised in the lawsuit is whether HB100, signed by Gov. Kay Ivey on May 16, violates the Alabama Constitution because of its timing.

Voters in 2022 overwhelmingly adopted a constitutional amendment that says laws affecting elections cannot change within six months of an election. But HB100 includes an implementation date of Oct. 1, which is less than 35 days before the Nov. 5 election.

The lawsuit argues there is confusion and no direction from state officials about the law’s enforcement. Alabama Secretary of State Wes Allen hasn’t provided direction on the new law, the lawsuit argues, other than providing a statement to AL.com’s Mike Cason in late May, that says the new law doesn’t take effect until Nov. 6.

“Preventing confusion around such crucial, unanswered questions in the months preceding a general election is precisely why approximately 80 percent of Alabama voters passed Amendment 4, enshrining in the Alabama Constitution a prohibition on election bills taking effect within six months of a general election,” the lawsuit states.

Allen’s office declined comment, referring statements to the Alabama Attorney General’s Office. The Attorney General’s Office did not respond to a request to comment.

Othni Lathram, director of the Legislative Services Agency, said while he cannot comment on how the Secretary of State’s Office is implementing the new law, his agency’s analysis while lawmakers were considering the bill earlier this year included an acknowledgement of the new constitutional amendment. The analysis simply says the legislation, while effective Oct. 1, would not impact who votes in November because of the 2022 constitutional amendment.

The timing of the new law – if it takes effect on Oct. 1 — would also prevent Alabamians like Clarke and Crowley from getting their voting rights restored through the Certificate of Eligibility to Vote – or CERV – process through the Alabama Bureau of Pardons and Parole (ABPP), the lawsuit states.

The CERV process allows felons who lose their voting rights and who have completed their sentence, paid all fines, court costs and restitution – and who do not have a pending felony charge – to seek the restoration of their ability to vote.

But the ABPP has 44 days to respond to CERV applications, meaning they are not required to consider a CERV to the newly disqualified voters under the law that takes effect on Oct. 1 until Nov. 14 – nine days after the Nov. 5 election.

Legislative procedure

The lawsuit challenges a piece of legislation that was, during the waning days of the legislative session in early May, was viewed as a rare piece of bipartisan election-related legislation.

Its passage was through an unusual process. The bill was resurrected during the last week of the session after it was seemingly defeated by a 4-4-3 vote during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on April 24, which is a rarity during a legislative session. The concerns from Republicans on the Judiciary Committee during the April meeting focused on levying harsh punishments on angry voters engaged in verbal spats with poll workers. The original intent of HB100 was to respond to a rise in threats to poll workers and election officials in other parts of the country – not necessarily in Alabama –since the 2020 presidential election.

The legislation, though, sailed to passage with Allen pushing for it after it was amended on the Alabama House floor to include the additional crimes to the list those disqualifying felons from voting. Rep. Jim Hill, R-Moody, proposed the amendment to add to the list of moral turpitude crimes. He said he supported the idea after he was asked to sponsor the amendment by Allen.

Clarke, the sponsor of HB100, told AL.com Thursday she will let the courts decide the merits of the case.

The League of Women Voters, in late May, expressed concerns about adding additional crimes to those disqualifying voters from elections in Alabama, arguing that the state was encouraging the legacy of Jim Crow. Allen, though, said he felt HB100 – as amended – is a strong crime deterrent.

“I’m not disqualifying anyone from voting as it relates to HB100,” he said to AL.com in May. “It’s the criminals who disqualify themselves when they break the law and wreak havoc on our communities.”

Alabama has a long history of disenfranchising voters for crimes of moral turpitude, going back to the Alabama Constitution of 1901, which was aimed at keeping Blacks and poor whites from voting.

For years, there was no definition moral turpitude, giving county boards of registrars and political appointees discretion over which people convicted of crimes could be disqualified from voting. Voters convicted of misdemeanors and felonies could get disqualified in past years.

In 1985, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Alabama’s disenfranchisement of voters for misdemeanors. Alabama voters approved a new constitutional amendment in 1996 disqualifying votes who committed felonies involving moral turpitude, but there was no definition behind that term.

More than 21 years later in 2017, lawmakers approved the Felony Voter Disqualification Act to define moral turpitude.