Alabama
Challenging schedule and turnovers: What we know about Alabama basketball after eight games
Alabama basketball has made its way through eight games of the 2024-25 season.
The Crimson Tide (6-2) entered the season as the No. 2-ranked squad in the nation, but has since fallen to No. 9 with a loss to No. 12 Purdue. UA is likely to see another dip in the polls after an 83-80 upset loss to undefeated and unranked Oregon in the first-ever Players Era Festival championship on Saturday in Las Vegas.
For those just now starting to tune into basketball after being locked into Alabama football all season, the losses early after a historic run to the Final Four last season could be glaring. Just remember that coach Nate Oats has formulated one of the toughest non-conference schedules in the country, so this team has been tested more than many.
UA played exhibitions against Wake Forest and Memphis before facing the likes of gritty mid-majors like Arkansas State and McNeese State. Alabama played Purdue, Illinois, Houston and Rutgers before Oregon, and travels to North Carolina next.
Here’s what we’ve learned about the Crimson Tide.
Turnovers trouble Alabama basketball through eight games
Before Oregon, Alabama averaged 12.4 turnovers per game. The Crimson Tide exceeded that average against the Ducks with 15, which was an improvement from the 20 turnovers that almost saw UA fall to Rutgers this past Wednesday. In victory against Houston, Alabama still lost possession seven times in the first half, and eight more turnovers in the second half contributed to the game heading into overtime.
In the 87-78 defeat at Purdue, Alabama had eight turnovers compared to three for the Boilermakers.
Injuries still concern for returning Final Four starter Latrell Wrightsell Jr.
What SEC Preseason Player of the Year Mark Sears has called a “Cinderella” journey to the Final Four saw guard Latrell Wrightsell, Jr. ailing through parts the 2023-24 season. Fans were left heartbroken after the senior left the Oregon game with a leg injury.
Wrightsell finds company on the bench in South Florida transfer Chris Youngblood (ankle) until the sharp-shooting guard is cleared to play, which Oats expects to be mid to late December.
Transfer, freshman depth helps Crimson Tide shine
Oats made sure UA loaded up on more than just Youngblood from the transfer portal. Alabama’s 2024 transfer class was ranked seventh in the country with guards like redshirt senior Houston Mallette (Pepperdine) and sophomore Aden Holloway (Auburn).
When Rutgers transfer and starting center Clifford Omoruyi heads to the bench with foul trouble, forward Grant Nelson has still looked efficient at the No. 5 spot, and in most of the minutes freshman Aiden Sherrell has played, he seems to be learning how to be a threat around the rim.
Sherrell is one of four freshmen who made up Alabama’s No. 2-ranked 2024 recruiting class, highlighted by starting guard Labaron Philon, who averages of 9.9 points, 3.6 rebounds and 4.3 assists, shooting 47.3% so far. The class also includes five-star forward Derrion Reid and another redshirt in Naas Cunningham.
Emilee Smarr covers Alabama basketball and Crimson Tide athletics for the Tuscaloosa News. She can be reached via email at esmarr@gannett.com.
Alabama softball dominated all the way in its win to advance to its first SEC Tournament championship in five years.
The No. 2-seeded Crimson Tide (49-6) didn’t trail once in its 9-1 run-rule win over No. 3 seed Florida (48-10) on Friday, May 8. Alabama first opened tournament play with a 7-1 win over No. 7 Arkansas (42-11, 15-10) on Thursday.
Here are our three biggest takeaways from the Crimson Tide’s win over the Gators.
Alabama softball offense is starting to click at the right time
Alabama did not have to wait until the middle innings to find its offense this time.
Freshman Ambrey Taylor opened the scoring with a leadoff solo home run in the bottom of the second inning. It was Taylor’s 11th home run of the season and her second in as many days after also going deep against Arkansas in the quarterfinals.
Alabama continued to build from there. With the bases loaded and two outs in the bottom of the second, Ana Roman singled to right field to bring in another run. Marlie Giles followed with a two-run single, pushing Alabama ahead 4-0 before the inning ended.
Jena Young doubled to drive in two more runs, with one coming across on a fielding error, at the bottom of the third. Alexis Pupillo followed with an RBI single to stretch Alabama’s lead to 6-1 by the end of the inning.
Pupillo shot an RBI-double off the wall and Audrey Vandagriff doubled to score another, extending Alabama’s lead to 8-1, threatening run-rule territory with two outs in the bottom of the fifth inning, securing the run rule with an RBI single by Taylor.
After needing a later-than-preferred power surge to pull away from Arkansas, Alabama’s lineup looked more comfortable early against Florida. The Crimson Tide finished with nine runs on 13 hits.
Vic Moten handles early pressure in first SEC Tournament appearance
Vic Moten’s first SEC Tournament appearance did not start easily, but the freshman pitcher kept Florida from taking advantage of the new kid on the block.
Moten walked two batters in the first inning but answered by striking out three straight Gators to keep the game scoreless heading into the bottom half.
Her pitch count climbed quickly. Moten threw more than 30 pitches in each of the first two innings and more than 20 in the third, reaching 87 pitches after just three. But after battling through traffic early, she settled in with a seven-pitch 1-2-3 fourth inning.
Alabama’s lead gave Moten margin for error, but Florida’s offense still had enough firepower to threaten a comeback. Moten ended the complete-game effort striking out four and one run on three hits with seven walks. Not bad for the freshman’s first postseason appearance.
Alabama moves one win away from SEC Tournament history
Alabama’s win over Florida moved the Crimson Tide one step closer to separating itself in SEC Softball Tournament history.
Both No. 2 Alabama and No. 3 Florida entered Friday tied with six SEC Softball Tournament championships apiece. With the semifinal win, Alabama will now have a chance to become the first program in conference history to win a seventh SEC Tournament title.
The Crimson Tide had won only two of its last seven meetings against the Gators entering Friday, including a loss to Florida in the 2024 Women’s College World Series. This was the first postseason meeting between the two programs since then.
Alabama had not reached the SEC Tournament championship game since 2021, when it won the tournament title.
When does Alabama softball play again?
After beating No. 7 Arkansas and No. 3 Florida on back-to-back days, the Crimson Tide will face the winner of No. 4 Texas vs. No. 9 Georgia in the SEC Softball Tournament championship game at 4 p.m. CT on Saturday, May 9.
Amelia Hurley covers high school and college sports for The Tuscaloosa News and USA TODAY Network. You can find her on X at ameliahurley_ or reach her at ahurley@usatodayco.com.
Does that animal have rabies? Here are signs and symptoms to look for
Rabies is an infectious disease that affects the central nervous system in mammals. Here’s what to look for in pets.
The Republic
State health officials are urging people to keep their pets vaccinated for rabies after a fox in Elmore County and a raccoon in Lee County tested positive for the virus.
On May 1, the raccoon was spotted acting strangely near Auburn, and the fox emerged from a wooded area and attacked a person in Tallassee, according to the Alabama Department of Public Health. The person has sought medical treatment.
“Rabies is not seasonal, and we continue to see cases year-round, but late spring is a time when activity peaks, particularly in wildlife,” said Dr. Dee Jones, state veterinarian for the ADPH, “The primary risk of rabies from wildlife is our pets, and keeping them up to date on rabies vaccine is critical.”
Alabama state law requires that dogs, cats and ferrets 12 weeks of age and older be current with rabies vaccination. In addition to vaccination, area residents are advised to take the following precautions to avoid possible exposure to rabies:
- Do not leave uneaten pet food or scraps near your residence.
- Do not allow pets to run loose; confine them within a fenced-in area or with a leash.
- Do not illegally feed or keep wildlife as pets.
- Do not go near wildlife or domestic animals that are acting in a strange or unusual manner.
- Caution children not to go near any stray or wild animal, regardless of its behavior.
Contact Montgomery Advertiser reporter Marty Roney at mroney@gannett.com. To support his work, please subscribe to the Montgomery Advertiser.
U.S. Rep. Robert Aderholt (R-Haleyville) says Alabama is on the cusp of delivering a sixth Republican congressional seat, and with it, potentially the U.S. House majority itself.
“Getting one seat in November, this November, we don’t have to wait two years, could decide the majority for the Republicans,” Aderholt said today on “The Rightside” in partnership with Yellowhammer News, hosted by Allison Sinclair and Amie Beth Shaver.
“So that’s very appealing,” he added.
Aderholt predicted a return to the congressional map drawn and approved by the Alabama Legislature in 2023, before the federal courts stepped in and forced a redraw.
If the U.S. Supreme Court lifts the injunction barring Alabama from altering its congressional map before 2030, the state would go back to the one approved by the Legislature and signed into law by the governor that year.
The 2023 map essentially creates six Republican districts and one Democratic district.
The Alabama Legislature passed both chambers’ redistricting bills Wednesday as the special session continues in Montgomery.
Aderholt referenced the “Livingston map,” the Legislature’s 2023-approved plan in namesake of State Sen. Steve Livingston (R-Scottsboro), arguing it was consistent with the Supreme Court’s recent direction that race cannot be the predominant factor in drawing district lines.
“It would not put a second minority district, per se, but it would give opportunities for everybody in the state of Alabama to have equal opportunity to be elected to Congress, whether they’re black or whether white,” Aderholt said.
Some have called for state lawmakers to a map that would make all seven districts Republican-leaning, but Aderholt explained the issues with going down that route.
“There are some proposals out there to try to do a what is called a true 7-0 map where there’s no chance that a Democrat could be elected in any of the congressional districts…and there is some down there that are afraid that if you do away with that one, in addition to doing away with the new district that was drawn where Shomari Figures is that, that would be an overreach, and the court would put everything on hold, and we couldn’t do we couldn’t even get the additional seat until the court order, a different court order came through, and who knows when that would be.”
Yaffee is a contributing writer to Yellowhammer News and hosts “The Yaffee Program” weekdays 9-11 a.m. on WVNN. You can follow him on X @Yaffee
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