Alabama

March is here. Alabama basketball needs to wake up fast

Published

2 years ago

March 6, 2024

March is here. Alabama basketball needs to wake up fast

Two things can be true at once.

First truth: the Alabama basketball schedule of late hasn’t been easy; No. 4 Tennessee at home before No. 25 Florida on the road in a four-day span is nothing at which to scoff. Plus, Alabama has played three of its last four games on the road.

Second truth: The Crimson Tide isn’t playing its best basketball right now. It doesn’t matter the opponent, and it doesn’t matter the circumstance. Alabama is capable of better.

The combination of the two truths resulted in back-to-back SEC losses for the first time in two years. The latest was a 105-87 loss to the Gators on Tuesday in Gainesville.

It’s concerning to say the least. Is it time to panic, though? Maybe, maybe not. However, it is certainly time for Alabama to shake off these losses and right the ship. It’s not sinking, but it’s starting to take on some water, ultimately slowing it down.

A vessel that’s not full steam ahead in March isn’t going to stay afloat too long in the postseason.

“We have to bounce back and be ready to go on Saturday and see what seed we can get going into Nashville,” Alabama coach Nate Oats said.

The Crimson Tide can’t seem to get everything to line up lately. Just when the defense started playing better against Tennessee, the offense disappeared. That trend continued in the first half against Florida. With Alabama shooting 10% from beyond the arc, the defense kept the Crimson Tide in the game.

Until it didn’t.

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“We let some offensive frustrations lead to some defensive letdowns that led to them opening it up,” Oats said.

In the final five minutes of the first half, Florida scored 18 points to take a nine-point halftime lead. That continued in the second half with the Gators’ lead ballooning to 23 at one point. The Gators’ points per possession grew to 1.452 in the second half.

“You can play great defense for 4-5 minutes, offense isn’t going well, you have a couple turnovers, you miss some open shots, that can’t frustrate you if you’re really a defensive-minded team,” Oats said. “Right now, we’ve got too many guys getting frustrated and then having too many letdowns.”

Alabama gave up 27 fast-break points and only scored eight. Florida had 13 assists to Alabama’s six. The Crimson Tide only blocked one shot compared to four for the Gators. Alabama also had only half as many steals as Florida.

Turnovers were once again an issue for the Crimson Tide for a second consecutive game. In six of the past nine games, Alabama has reached double-digit turnovers.

Meanwhile, the Crimson Tide’s shooting from deep has slowed. Alabama has made 14 of 60 (23%) of its 3-point attempts the past two games. The Crimson Tide doesn’t have to hit triples at a constant high clip to win, but it needs to be better than that.

Some of this can be fixed, some of it might not be. But either way, rest would be a good first step.

“It looked like we were tired tonight to be honest with you,” Oats said. “We’ve got to do a better job. We’re off (Wednesday). Need to get rested, get in with the trainer, get a bunch of treatment, make sure we’re not going too hard Thursday, Friday, get their bodies and minds fresh ready to play Saturday, and then get ready to try to make a run in Nashville.”

All is not lost. Sure, the SEC regular-season title continues to slip away, but a good seed in the SEC Tournament and NCAA Tournament are still attainable. Alabama just needs to find a way to stop slipping down this path and halt the losing before it becomes a losing streak.

Simply put, it’s time for the Crimson Tide to wake up. Otherwise, any dreams of a tournament run will most certainly disappear.

Nick Kelly is the Alabama beat writer for The Tuscaloosa News, part of the USA TODAY Network, and he covers Alabama football and men’s basketball. Reach him at nkelly@gannett.com or follow him @_NickKelly on X, the social media app formerly known as Twitter.

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Alabama

By The Numbers, Alabama A-Day 2026

Published

10 hours ago

April 12, 2026

Press Room

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

Published

22 hours ago

April 11, 2026

Press Room

Alabama’s Willy Wilcox returns to Masters in new role after overcoming addiction

(Willy Wilcox/Instagram)

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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Alabama

Prattville 19 year old creates Alabama Children’s Theatre

Published

1 day ago

April 11, 2026

Press Room

Prattville 19 year old creates Alabama Children’s Theatre

PRATTVILLE, Ala. (WSFA) – Maggie Kervin has a passion for the theater. She started as a little girl and loved it ever since.

“I went to Prattville Christian Academy and got my start in theater there,” said Kervin.

After graduating from high school, she got a job, but noticed something was missing in her community. So, she started the Alabama Children’s Theatre. Keep in mind she’s just 19 years old.

At 19 years old, Prattville native Maggie Kervin found a unique way to give back. She started the Alabama Children’s Theatre.(WSFA)

“There’s just not a lot of opportunities for kids in theater. I really wanted to provide that opportunity.”

Two years ago, she had $50 in her pocket and a dream. Now things are picking up steam and she’s enjoying the ride. This is for kids between the ages of five and 18. Right now, they’re working on Annie Jr.

“We’ve had so many kids why are shy and timid the first time they are one stage. When it’s their third or fourth time, they are very different.”

It’s different for her too. She’s used to being the one up on stage. Now she’s behind the computer, with them for every word, in every song.

At 19 years old, Prattville native Maggie Kervin found a unique way to give back. She started... — At 19 years old, Prattville native Maggie Kervin found a unique way to give back. She started the Alabama Children’s Theatre.(WSFA)

“I didn’t think I’d ever be in the position of running my own theater.”

The reward for Maggie, getting to see her always improving stars, continue to shine.

“It’s just so exciting to see them put the hard work into something and watch it blossom. They are so excited and so dedicated.”

You can check out Annie Jr. this month. The shows are at the Pine Level Community Center.

She’s hoping you come see them for yourself, at the Pine Level Community Center. Here’s a link to show times and ticket prices for the end of the month. Her next goal is to find a facility of their own one day. Visit the Facebook page if you’d like to help make that happen.

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