Happy Monday, everyone. Alabama’s basketball teams are under scrutiny after a weekend of animal cruelty, specifically Bulldog abuse. The men took care of business at Coleman on Saturday, and the women followed suit on Sunday.
Aaliyah Nye scored 22 points, Essence Cody had 17 points and 13 rebounds, and No. 22 Alabama rolled past Georgia 72-57 on Sunday.
Alabama led from start to finish and by 27 points at halftime before Georgia regrouped to outscore the Crimson Tide by 12 points in the second half.
The Lady Bulldogs shot 33% in the first half but made 8 of 11 shots in one stretch of the third quarter and outscored Alabama 20-8 in the period. Still, the Crimson Tide (18-5, 5-4 SEC) led 57-42 heading to the fourth and their lead reached 21 points at 70-49 on Eris Lester’s layup with three minutes remaining.
Asia Avinger scored 15 points for Georgia (9-14, 1-8). Miyah Verse and Mia Woolfolk had 10 points each.
Alabama raced out to a 14-2 lead in the first 4 1/2 minutes of the game and made five 3-pointers in the first quarter to lead 26-11. Nye made three 3-pointers for nine points in the quarter.
The ladies are now 19-5 on the season including 5-4 in SEC play, and a current NCAA six seed per ESPN Bracketology.
Nate Oats got to show off his bench depth against the Dawgs, including Aiden Sherrell’s breakout.
We knew (Georgia) would play two bigs the entire game, so we knew this would be an opportunity to get our frontcourt some more minutes, and he took advantage of it,” Oats said.
By any definition, it was the breakout game of Sherrell’s season, but more than that, it served to illustrate just how far toward the end of the bench Oats can reach for production. If Alabama’s starters are having an off night from 3-point range, in comes sharp-shooting transfer guard Aden Holloway, who nailed a couple 3-pointers of his own against the Bulldogs. The former McDonald’s All-American would be starting just about anywhere else in the country. If UA is short on toughness or defensive effort, Oats can turn to forward Mo Dioubate, who has become this team’s Energizer Bunny (Youtube it, youngsters). In Labaron Philon, he’s got a phenomenally gifted freshman who recently yielded a starting role to Chris Youngblood yet remains one of only four healthy UA players averaging double-digit scoring. Then there’s Derrion Reid, another freshman forward, who has already recorded a few performances like the one Sherrell had against Georgia.
If a light bulb has gone off for Sherrell, and Jarin Stavenson can build on his three made three-pointers on Saturday, this team has no ceiling.
The big news of the weekend, of course, came late last evening as Ryan Grubb will apparently, finally, call plays in Tuscaloosa. There is much work to be done.
The inconsistencies were unmistakable — not entirely on Sheridan — but DeBoer couldn’t pass on an opportunity to reunite with Grubb in the bid to regain the momentum that melted faster than Gulf Coast snow.
Questions remain as DeBoer, Take 2 takes shape. Sheridan’s contract calls for him to make $1.45 million in 2025 and $1.55 million next year — a healthy sum for a non-coordinator as the revenue-sharing era begins. He’s also a DeBoer guy who you didn’t think would be shoved to the side when Grubb came riding back into town. They’d been together at Indiana, Washington and now Alabama and since Sheridan continued to recruit on the road with DeBoer, it didn’t feel like a breakup was impending.
But the move was smart.
Last season, Alabama’s rushing attack centered around Milroe. Meanwhile, in Seattle, one of the major complaints about Grubb was that he didn’t run the ball enough.
Jam Miller returns to Alabama’s backfield, and Justice Haynes transfer to Michigan means Richard Young will likely play an increased part for the Crimson Tide. Grubb will be tasked with remedying one of UA’s weaknesses from the 2024 season, and getting the running backs more involved in the offense.
He likely won’t have the rushing threat at quarterback with Milroe gone. None of the three competing for the job are anywhere near as dangerous out of the backfield.
Neither offense was remarkable by any means. Not like the two years at Washington. Not all of that can fall on DeBoer and Sheridan in Tuscaloosa or Grubb in Seattle. There are extenuating circumstances. But each had an impact on their respective offenses and deserve to shoulder some of the blame.
So DeBoer is returning to what works. That means reuniting with Grubb.
There’s reason to be excited if you cheer for the Crimson Tide. The duo has accomplished quite a bit together. There’s proof of concept. DeBoer and Grubb have their work cut out for them, though. The offense enters with plenty of questions in 2025.
Needless to say, job priority number one is finding elite play from the quarterback position. Based on the history Kalen and Ryan have together, the RTDB crowd probably isn’t going to be thrilled.
DeBoer puts his faith in a quarterback who arrived at Alabama as a five-star recruit before throwing a grand total of 50 passes the past three seasons.
Simpson has not been named starter. No need for such proclamations before the dogwoods bloom. Five-star true freshman Keelon Russell spices up the competition, as DeBoer’s first quarterback signee at Alabama. Plus, there’s Austin Mack, a career backup who followed DeBoer to Alabama from Washington.
This job sure seems like Simpson’s to lose, though.
Simpson built “relationships to get ready for this chance that he has right in front of him,” DeBoer told reporters at the Senior Bowl, “to not just step up as a leader, because I think he’s been doing that, but to have that opportunity to step in and be the quarterback.”
From Jake Haener at Fresno State to Michael Penix Jr. at Washington, Grubb quarterbacks have been at the center of high-octane, pass-first offenses.
Haener and Penix were each 4,000-yard passers under Grubb’s tutelage, a yardage total an Alabama quarterback has not reached since Bryce Young’s Heisman Trophy-winning season in 2021.
In Penix’s two seasons with the Huskies, he led the Pac-12 conference in pass attempts, combining for 1,109 pass attempts in two seasons. Washington has the No. 1 passing offense in college football 2022, and the second-best passing offense in 2023.
Fresno State had a top-10 passing offense in both 2020 and 2021.
No college quarterback with Grubb as his offensive coordinator has averaged less than 315 passing yards per game other than Fresno State quarterback Jorge Reyna in 2019.
DeBoer has always been about slinging it all over the field, and Jalen Milroe just wasn’t suited to do it. He and Nick Sheridan clearly added some elements to try and accentuate Jalen’s strengths, but whoever wins the competition this year should allow them to get back to dancing with what got them here.
Ty Simpson will get the first crack at the starting job, and he likes what he sees from WR transfer Isaiah Horton.
Xavier Restrepo, the Hurricanes leading wide receiver, called Horton explosive and a receiver that can “move like one of us” despite being five inches taller than his counterpart.
Horton is a receiver, Restrepo said, who has all the advantages in the world with Alabama.
“He’s a one-on-one nightmare,” Restrepo said. “He understands football really well as well. He’s learned this past year. Honestly, he’s a great dude. He’s contagious to be around.”
This is the receiver Simpson could see Horton becoming at Alabama with two seasons of eligibility left.
It didn’t take long for Horton to buy in on what Simpson was selling.
“(Horton) told me that night… ‘I’m coming,’” Simpson said. “And I was like, ‘Yeah, you’d be stupid not to.’”
That’s about it for today. Have a great week.
Roll Tide.
