Terrance Meade (right) is one of many key players the Tide will be without this upcoming season. (Photo by Brandon K. Pierce)
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UA men's basketball rebuilding for new season
By Alexa Denagall [Davidson High School]
The University of Alabama men’s basketball team was ranked No. 1 in the country at one point last season, but barely made the NCAA Tournament in the end. Given that the team lost four starters from last year’s team, the 2003-2004 Crimson Tide could be in for an even tougher season.
But this year’s team is hoping that with a better season, team leadership and work, mixed with a little bit of an up-tempo attitude, the season won’t seem so rough.
Having made the NCAA Tournament two years in a row and the NIT finals in 2001, the team’s leadership and connection was important in the achievements made throughout the years.
Why did the Tide stop rolling all of a sudden last season? The team won 13 of its first 14 games and was ranked No. 1 in late December, but then struggled to a 7-9 Southeastern Conference record and later lost to Indiana in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
“The team just lost chemistry,” said forward Erwin Dudley, the 2002 SEC Player of the Year, who is still in town working out in hopes of landing a pro contract.
Along with Dudley, the team also lost fellow seniors Kenny Walker and Terrance Meade and point guard Mo Williams, who was drafted by the Utah Jazz after leaving school two years before his eligibility ran out. Returning regulars Antoine Pettway, Earnest Shelton and Kennedy Winston, as well as incoming freshmen Ron Steele, Al Webber and Glenn Miles will seek to pick up the scoring and rebounding left over from the departed stars.
Also new on the UA team is assistant coach, Tom Asbury who was the head coach at Pepperdine University and Kansas State University. He took the place of Sammy Jackson, who did not return after just one season on head coach Mark Gottfried’s staff.
“I’m really excited to be here,” Asbury said. “I think that this is a great institution, and I think that our opportunities at SEC are excellent as we look down the road.”