Alabama
Crimson Tide football star Ryan Williams wants to be ‘on the bench’ for Alabama basketball
Alabama basketball could have a new face on the sidelines.
On the latest episode of the ‘New Wave’ podcast, Crimson Tide football star Ryan Williams said he told coach Nate Oats, “I’m gonna be standing on the bench, ya feel me?”
The joke, capped with a rhythmic clap and “de-fense” cheer, prompted a laugh from co-host Jaylen Mbakwe and Alabama hoops players and guests of the week Aden Holloway and Labaron Philon.
“I’m there,” Williams said.
The wide receiver phenom has only one request.
“Just give me the sweatsuit so I look like I’m on the team,” Williams said. “They gonna be like, ‘Is that Ryan?’ I’m gonna be like, ‘It ain’t even me.’ “
Ryan Williams might be incognito for his next Alabama basketball game appearance
Philon thought back to the season opener against UNC-Asheville when Williams’ attendance made waves on social media.
“You couldn’t even watch the game,” Philon said. “Them people, they was way over there and came all the way down to where you were just to take a picture. I saw it with my own two eyes.”
Williams said he was “just trying to talk to my guys. Let them boys eat.”
Instead, it was another night when having to accommodate his celebrity with the media got in the way of an attempt at just trying to be a college student.
“They on the opposite side of the arena and they done tracked me down,” Williams said. “Can’t even watch the game.”
Emilee Smarr covers Alabama basketball and Crimson Tide athletics for the Tuscaloosa News. She can be reached via email at esmarr@gannett.com.
The Alabama Crimson Tide are in the winner’s bracket on Day 2 of the Tuscaloosa Regional at the 2026 NCAA Softball Tournament. The Crimson Tide are the No. 1 overall seed in the tournament and will face the Belmont Bruins Saturday at Rhoads Stadium.
Alabama (50-7) is ranked No. 3 in the NFCA/GoRout Division I Top 25 Coaches Poll. Coach Patrick Murphy’s team won its 50th game of the season with an 8-0 run-rule victory over USC Upstate in five innings Friday. The Tide erupted for six runs in the second inning to put the game out of reach early. Marlie Giles hit her sixth home run to start the scoring. Brooke Wells added a two-run single, and Alexis Pupillo smashed a two-run double as Alabama batted 10 times in the second.
Audrey Vandagriff hit her eighth home run in the third inning. Pupillo drove in her third run of the day with an RBI single in the fourth to cap the scoring for Alabama. Freshman Kaitlyn Pallozzi made her 11th start in the circle and held USC Upstate to four hits in five innings to improve to 9-0. She lowered her ERA to 1.47 in 71 2/3 innings.
Stream Alabama vs. Belmont
Belmont (41-11) is unranked in the Coaches Poll but received the most votes for top-25 consideration. The Bruins defeated Southeastern, 2-0, Friday. Maya Johnson, the NCAA leader in ERA and the No. 3 pick in the 2026 AUSL Collegiate Draft, improved to 28-2 overall. She tossed a complete-game, four-hit shutout. Johnson struck out eight and walked two to lower her ERA to 0.64 this season. She leads Division I softball with 389 strikeouts.
What channel is Alabama softball vs. Belmont on today?
- TV Channel: None
- Livestream: ESPN+
Alabama-Belmont will stream on ESPN+ at the 2026 NCAA Tournament on Saturday. Nate Gatter and Monica Abbott will call the action from the broadcast booth at Rhoads Stadium.
Additionally, the Alabama radio feed of the game featuring play-by-play voice Tom Canterbury can be heard on The Varsity App and on Catfish 100.1 FM in Tuscaloosa.
Alabama softball vs. Belmont start time today
- Date: Saturday, May 16
- Start time: 1 p.m. CT
Stream Alabama vs. Belmont
The Alabama-Belmont game starts at 1 p.m. CT Saturday from Rhoads Stadium in Tuscaloosa.
NCAA Softball Tournament 2026: Tuscaloosa Regional schedule
After Alabama-Belmont, No. 2 seed Southeastern Louisiana (46-15) will face No. 4 USC Upstate (36-22) at approximately 3:30 p.m. CT Saturday. The nightcap will feature the Southeastern-USC Upstate winner against the loser of Alabama-Belmont at approximately 6 p.m.
Here’s the full Tuscaloosa Regional schedule with final scores and future start times. All start times Central.
Friday
- Game 1: Alabama 8, USC Upstate 0
- Game 2: Belmont 2, Southeastern 0
Saturday
- Game 3: Alabama vs. Belmont 1 p.m., ESPN+
- Game 4: USC Upstate vs. Southeastern, 3:30 p.m.
- Game 5: Game 3 Loser vs. Game 4 Winner, 6 p.m.
Sunday
- Game 6: Game 3 Winner vs. Game 5 Winner, 12 p.m.
- Game 7: Game 6 Winner vs. Game 6 Loser, 2:30 p.m. — IF NECESSARY
Alabama softball schedule 2026
Here’s a look at Alabama’s 2026 softball schedule. All times Central.
- Feb. 5: vs. Villanova in Atlanta (W, 17-0)
- Feb. 6: vs. East Carolina in Atlanta (W, 9-1)
- Feb. 6: at Georgia Tech (W, 9-0)
- Feb. 7: vs. Villanova in Atlanta (W, 9-3)
- Feb. 7: at Georgia Tech (W, 7-2)
- Feb. 13: vs. Purdue (W, 10-0)
- Feb. 13: vs. Liberty (W, 6-3)
- Feb. 14: Liberty (W, 8-0)
- Feb. 14: vs. Purdue (W, 8-0)
- Feb. 20: vs. Elon in Tallahassee (W, 7-0)
- Feb. 20: at Florida State (W, 8-0)
- Feb. 21: at Florida State (W, 5-1)
- Feb. 22: vs. Dartmouth in Tallahassee (W, 3-2)
- Feh. 24: vs. UAB (W, 8-0)
- Feb. 27: vs. St. Thomas (W, 2-0)
- Feb. 27: vs. South Carolina (W, 8-0)
- Feb. 28: vs. Kent State (W, 8-0)
- Feb. 28: vs. St. Thomas (W, 7-0)
- March 1: vs. Oakland (W, 8-1)
- March 6-8: at Ole Miss (W, 5-3; W, 13-2; W, 2-1)
- March 10: vs. Samford (W, 8-1)
- March 13-15: vs. Arkansas (W, 4-1; L, 14-9; W, 4-1)
- March 17: vs. ULM (W, 4-1)
- March 20-22: at Missouri (W, 2-1; L, 5-2; W, 4-3)
- March 25: vs. Jacksonville State (W, 10-3)
- March 25: vs. North Alabama (W, 12-0)
- March 27: vs. North Dakota State (W, 8-1)
- March 28: vs. North Dakota State (W, 13-0)
- April 2-4: vs. Texas (L, 9-1; W, 11-4; W, 7-4)
- April 7: vs. South Alabama (W, 8-0)
- April 10-12: at Auburn (W, 1-0; W, 4-0; W, 9-1)
- April 14: at Samford (L, 3-2)
- April 17-19: vs. Kentucky (W, 9-0, W, 5-4; W, 4-0)
- April 21: at UAB (W, 6-0)
- April 25-27: at Tennessee (W, 12-0; L, 2-0; L, 4-1)
- April 30-May 2: vs. South Carolina (W, 3-2; W, 1-0; W, 4-3)
- May 7: vs. Arkansas at SEC Tournament (W, 7-1)
- May 8: vs. Florida at SEC Tournament (W, 9-1)
- May 9: vs. Texas at SEC Tournament (L, 7-1)
- March 15: vs. USC Upstate at NCAA Tournament (W, 8-0)
- March 16: vs. Belmont, 1 p.m., ESPN+
Record: 50-7 overall, 19-5 SEC.
Follow us at @RollTideWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook, for ongoing coverage of Alabama Crimson Tide news, notes and opinions.
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WSFA) – Alabama Shakespeare Festival announced its 2026-2027 season Thursday, featuring seven productions ranging from comedy to award-winning drama.
The season opens Oct. 1 with “The Play That Goes Wrong,” a farce about a mystery production plagued by mishaps. The show runs through Oct. 25 on the Festival Stage.
“August Wilson’s Fences” plays from Oct. 29 through Nov. 15 on the Octagon Stage. The Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning drama tells the story of Troy Maxon, a former Negro League baseball player working as a sanitation worker in 1950s Pittsburgh. The production is presented in association with Theatrical Outfit and Dominion Entertainment.
“Elf The Musical” runs Nov. 25 through Dec. 27 on the Festival Stage. The holiday show is based on the film about Buddy the Elf’s journey to discover his identity and bring Christmas joy to his family.
The season includes the world premiere of “Marian: An Original Musical,” running Feb. 25 through March 14, 2027, on the Festival Stage. The musical tells the story of Marian Anderson, who gave the first integrated concert in the nation’s capital on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in 1939.
William Shakespeare’s “As You Like It” runs April 15 through May 2, 2027, on the Festival Stage. The romantic comedy follows Rosalind as she flees to the Forest of Arden disguised in men’s clothes.
“The Rocket Men” runs May 13-30, 2027, on the Octagon Stage. The play tells the story of former Nazi scientists who moved to Huntsville and became part of NASA’s space program.
The season closes with an unannounced Disney musical running July 7 through Aug. 8, 2027, on the Festival Stage.
Subscriptions are on sale now. Individual show tickets go on sale July 20. Tickets can be purchased by calling 334-271-5353, visiting the box office or online at ASF.net.
The current season includes “Chicken & Biscuits,” running June 4-21 on the Octagon Stage, and “Beautiful: The Carole King Musical,” running July 16 through Aug. 16 on the Festival Stage.
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Gov. Kay Ivey on Thursday formally announced the state will be beginning this historic summer with an America 250 Alabama Celebration at the State Capitol next Thursday. During the event, the governor will officially unveil a massive, 250th edition of the U.S. flag that will hang between the columns of the Capitol this summer.
“We live in the greatest nation on this Earth, and it is only fitting Alabama pay tribute to this country we are proud to call home. I am excited to invite my fellow Alabamians to the Capitol for a salute to our nation and to kick off this historic summer,” said Ivey. “There is truly no better time to be an American and an Alabamian than right now.”
The event will be open to the public and is set to occur on the front steps of the State Capitol Thursday, May 21 at 11 a.m. ahead of Memorial Day weekend. Leading up to the program, guests will be able to enjoy the sounds of the 151st Army Band. The governor invited Pell City High School student and fellow Girls Stater Amelia Alverson, who went viral for her rendition of “The Star Spangled Banner,” to perform.
The program will feature a musical performance by Randy Owen of Alabama. At the close of the program, four F-35 fighter jets will roar over the State Capitol for an official flyover.
The governor first announced the event Wednesday during a speech in Huntsville. There are no tickets required. Governor Ivey said she looks forward to America’s 250th birthday on July 4, 2026, and she “is thrilled to kick off this milestone summer with her fellow Alabamians,” Ivey’s press release concluded.
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