Alabama
Former Alabama high school standout ready for Major League comeback
Pitcher Kendall Graveman will attempt a Major League comeback with the Arizona Diamondbacks after missing the 2024 season.
The Arizona Diamondbacks and the former Benjamin Russell High School standout have reached agreement on a one-year, $1.35 million contract, MLB.com and ESPN reported on Friday.
Graveman had shoulder surgery in January 2024 that kept him from playing last season.
Graveman’s past 196 MLB appearances have come out of the bullpen.
The Diamondbacks’ saves leader in 2024, Paul Sewald with 16, left in free agency for the Cleveland Guardians last month. But he was removed from Arizona’s closer role in August.
Justin Martinez saved eight games from Aug. 5 through Sept. 3 and returns. The Diamondbacks also have former Miami Marlins closer A.J. Puk available in the bullpen.
In his most recent season, Graveman pitched in 45 games for the Chicago White Sox before being pitching in 23 games for the Houston Astros after being traded into the pennant race. He posted a 3.12 earned-run average (2.42 for Houston) in 66.1 innings. The right-hander went 5-6 with eight saves while striking out 66.
A four-year starter as a pitcher and shortstop at Benjamin Russell in Alexander City, Graveman went to Mississippi State after posting a 6-3 record with a 1.19 ERA and 90 strikeouts in 63 innings as a high school senior.
At Mississippi State, Graveman compiled a career record of 19-13 with a 3.69 ERA in 68 appearances before departing as an eighth-round choice of the Toronto Blue Jays in the 2013 draft.
In his first full minor-league season, Graveman had a 14-6 record with a 1.83 ERA at four levels in the Toronto system before making his MLB debut as a September callup in 2014.
One of the four players traded by the Blue Jays to the Oakland Athletics on Nov. 28, 2014, for former Faith Academy and Auburn star Josh Donaldson, Graveman had a 23-29 record in 78 starts for Oakland before sustaining an arm injury.
Graveman had Tommy John surgery in 2018, and he didn’t play in a big-league game between May 11, 2018, and July 27, 2020.
In his comeback with the Seattle Mariners in 2020, Graveman made the transition to the bullpen after making two starts.
In his career, Graveman has a 37-43 record with a 3.95 ERA and 24 saves in 280 games. In 652 innings, Graveman has 494 strikeouts.
Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on X at @AMarkG1.
Alabama
Deputies: Alabama teen arrested for threatening to kill student in Walton County
WALTON COUNTY, Fla. — A 16-year-old from Florala, Alabama, was arrested after making threats to kill another student on social media.
On Friday morning, the Walton County Sheriff’s Office said the student posted a picture of a gun online.
It was captioned with a targeted threat involving a student at Paxton School. The 16-year-old who attends the school made the threat.
They were taken into custody before school started.
Alabama
By The Numbers, Alabama A-Day 2026
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Alabama football scrimmaged inside Bryant-Denny Stadium for its annual A-Day spring football finale on Saturday. The Crimson Tide spent two hours with the offense and defense fighting for dominance in the April sun.
The afternoon wasn’t exactly a game, but looked more like real football than the 2025 A-Day and therefore gave fans and pundits quality content to evaluate.
“I thought the guys competed again,” Kalen DeBoer said. “It’s a unique situation with our practices, two of them still being next week, so we’re not done yet. Get back to work Tuesday and Thursday, still got a lot of opportunities to get better, a lot of situational that we can get to. But it was a good back and forth, much like many of the other scrimmages; you can see how we orchestrate it with the ball where we spot it. There’s some advantages the offense gets towards the end. We’ve got to get that red zone work in, but there’s a lot of things to learn, a lot of situational stuff that we can get better at.”
Disclaimer: These statistics were taken by hand and therefore not official
Passing
- Keelon Russell: 21-33, 242 yards, 4 TD, 1 INT
- Austin Mack: 6-12, 101 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT
- Jett Thomalla: 4-5, 44 yards
- Tayden-Evan Kaawaa: 4-5, 37 yards
Rushing
- Kevin Riley: 10 carries, 12 yards
- Daniel Hill: 10 carries, 31 yards
- AK Dear: 4 carries, 2 yards
- Trae’Shawn Brown: 6 carries, 19 yards
- Khalifa Keith: 1 carry
Receiving
- Derek Meadows: 9 Targets, 5 receptions, 69 yards, 1 TD
- Cederian Morgan: 3 targets, 3 receptions, 76 yards, 1 TD
- Ryan Williams: 3 targets, 3 receptions 60 yards
- Trae’Shawn Brown: 6 targets, 5 receptions, 50 yards
- Lotzeir Brooks: 4 targets, 3 receptions, 15 yards, 2 TDs
- Marshall Pritchett: 2 targets, 2 receptions, 8 yards, 1 TD
- Tyler Henderson: 3 targets, 3 receptions, 38 yards
- Rico Scott: 3 targets, 2 receptions, 30 yards
- Jay Lindsey: 2 targets, 1 reception, 5 yards
- AK Dear: 2 targets, 2 receptions, 16 yards
- Kevin Riley: 1 target, 1 reception, 5 yards
- Kaleb Edwards: 2 targets, 2 receptions, 27 yards
- Maurice Mathis Jr.: 1 target, 1 reception, 5 yards
- Mack Sutter: 1 target, 1 reception, 10 yards
- Daniel Hill: 1 target, 1 reception, 10 yards
- Noah Rogers: 2 targets
- Josh Ford: 1 target
Defense
- Ivan Taylor: 6 tackles
- Luke Metz: 4 tackles, sack, 2 TFL
- Red Morgan: 4 tackles, 1 PBU
- Caleb Woodson: 4 tackles
- Justin Hill: 4 tackles, 2 TFL
- Carmelo O’Neal: 4 tackles
- Cayden Jones: 3 tackles
- Jorden Edmunds: 3 tackles, 2 PBU
- Keon Sabb: 3 tackles
- Dijon Lee: 3 tackles, 1 INT
- Zavier Mincey: 3 tackles
- Duke Johnson: 3 tackles, 1 TFL
- Jireh Edwards: 2 tackles, 1 PBU
- Kendrick Bingley-Jones: 2 tackles, 2 TFL
- Mahri Johnson: 2 tackles, sack
- Abduall Sanders: 2 tackles
- Terrence Green: 2 tackles, 1 PBU
- Brody McCutcheon: 2 tackles, sack
- Jake Ivie: 2 tackles
- Yhonzae Pierre: 1 tackle
- Devan Thompkins: 1 tackle
- Xavier Griffin: 1 tackle
- Dre Kirkpatrick Jr.: 1 tackle, 1 INT
- Walter Sansing: 1 tackle
- Zay Hall: 1 tackle
- Jamarion Matthews: 1 tackle
- Grant Johnson: 1 tackle
- Griffin Hanson: 1 tackle
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Alabama
Alabama’s Willy Wilcox returns to Masters in new role after overcoming addiction
The story of Willy Wilcox begins with his mom. Kim Wilcox won over 50 tournaments as a junior golfer, was a four-year letter winner at Auburn, and finished runner-up in the 1988 Alabama State Women’s Amateur Championship. She had aspirations of joining the LPGA Tour, but life intervened. In the late 1980s, she had Willy, and by 1991, she became the club manager and golf pro at the now-defunct Pine Harbor Golf and Racquet Club in Pell City, Alabama.
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