Jumbo Package: Alabama’s Women’s Basketball Team Falls in the Round of 32 in Overtime Thriller

First up, if you missed the excitement yesterday, Alabama’s WBB team went into a 2OT thriller vs Maryland to miss out on the Sweet 16.

Alabama women’s basketball held a 17-point lead in the second half. Guard Sarah Ashlee Barker scored a career-high 45 points.

And yet, by the time the final buzzer sounded, Alabama’s season was over. The Crimson Tide missed out on the Sweet 16 yet again, having not played in it since 1998.

Key players fouling out for No. 5 seed Alabama opened the door for No. 4 seed Maryland to push through and outlast the Crimson Tide 111-108 in double overtime in the second round of the NCAA Tournament in College Park, Maryland on Monday. The Terrapins advance to face No. 1 seed South Carolina on Friday in Birmingham.

At the end of the first overtime, the Terps did the one thing they shouldn’t have done: foul a 3-point shooter with one second remaining. But that’s what happened, and Barker went to the line with a chance to send the game to double overtime.

“I said, ‘Pray for me,’” said Barker, who made all three free throws.

Barker finished with a program-high 45 points on 17-of-25 shooting and took on a huge load in the overtime periods as Alabama lost Zaay Green and Aaliyah Nye, who both fouled out late in the fourth quarter.

“I wish I could have done more,” Barker said. “Just the opportunity to be here, the opportunity to play for Alabama, represent Alabama, yeah 45 points is a lot, but I would have loved to win rather than score 45 points, but at the end of the day, it’s not my glory.”

Star Sarah Ashlee Barker scored a whopping 45 points on her own, including an ice-in-her-veins three straight free throws as the clock expired to send the game into the final overtime.

Like Josh said yesterday, just a few years ago, seeing either Alabama hoops team still playing on March 24th felt like a pipe dream, let alone both of them… So Roll Tide to that.

The transfer portal has opened up for basketball (seriously, did the powers that be intentionally make all of the portal windows at the worst possible time? March Madness is still ongoing).

A former Alabama basketball big man is back in the transfer portal.

South Carolina forward Nick Pringle told On3 he would enter the transfer portal after one season with the Gamecocks.

After starting his collegiate career at Wofford, Pringle spent two seasons at Alabama, playing in 70 games, primarily as a bench player, from 2022-24. In 13.1 minutes per game, Pringle averaged 5.1 points and 4.1 rebounds per game.

And as in football so in hoops. Guys that transfer once will probably transfer again. It just seems to be the way of things the last couple of years.

This one is behind a paywall, but is a good article on Jah-Marien Latham’s transformation from defensive line to linebacker:

“Man, he’s like 10 times faster,” Overton said of Latham. “It’s a different type of game when you lose that weight. When I came in, I had to gain weight and it kind of slows your game down a little bit, but you have to make sure you adjust to that weight.

“Zebbo, he’s taking his weight loss to a whole nother level. He’s adjusting just like this (snaps fingers), as if he was already that weight. So him being able to make sure he’s moving faster just expands his game, especially when he has to drop and stuff.”

Tim Keenan, Alabama’s most experienced interior lineman, expects big things from Latham.

“Zebbo, he’s always been a freak athlete,” Keenan said. “He’s always had that twitch, that wiggle to him. I don’t think he’ll have too many problems. If anything, I feel like he’s really fixing to take off.”

I actually had no idea Latham was called “Zebbo”, so that was new. In any case, he’s always felt like kind of a player without an exact position, so seeing him try to get to linebacker size is interesting. His teammates sure seem to think he’s got the athletic chops to make it happen.

Next, after his impressive performance at Alabama’s Pro Day, Jalen Milroe’s 40-yard dash has been the subject of plenty of online talk lately. Kalen DeBoer talked to some NFL Draft analysts about him yesterday and had plenty of good things to say:

“It continues to be more of the same. Ball comes off his hand really well and I thought he threw with good accuracy. He can throw to all levels of the field,” DeBoer said Monday. “The running piece I think speaks for itself. So much that he’s shown on film over the last couple years. He’s not just running to guys; he’s running through and by them.

“So, that really didn’t surprise me as far as how he ran, but the other stuff is just more verification. Elements and some things under center. Stuff that maybe you didn’t get a chance to see as much of, but he looked pretty comfortable.”

Watching where Milroe winds up getting drafted is going to be fascinating. He’s definitely a polarizing prospect with a volatile game. If a team convinces themselves they can coach him into consistency, he could go really high. And at the same time, there are likely a number of teams that will have him totally off their draft board…. So who knows what’s going to happen.

In football recruiting, Steve Wiltfong just dropped a prediction that 5-star cornerback Jorden Edmonds seems likely to commit to Alabama.

The Georgia native is an impressive 6’3” cornerback that 247Sports views as the #10 overall prospect in the country and the top corner in the class.

Finally, congrats to former Tide great, Sherman Williams, for getting the head coaching job at Murphy High in Mobile!

Former Blount High and Alabama football star Sherman Williams has been approved as the new head football coach at Murphy High in Mobile.

Williams replaces Justin Hannah as the team’s head coach. Hannah was relieved of his coaching duties in September. Dwight Lambert finished the season as the Panthers’ interim coach.

It’s the first head coaching job for Williams, who was approved by the Mobile County School Board at its monthly meeting Monday morning. Williams will address the team Tuesday morning.