Baseball: Alabama drops series finale to Florida | 3C
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CECIL HURT
Kentucky survives Irish scare
Nothing is for certain in a coaching search h
The Associated Press
All in?
I
n this age of instant information, no one has time for nuance. In a coaching search, people want to hear what will happen — or what won’t happen. They want 100 percent certainty, even in situations where the principals themselves aren’t 100 percent sure — and even though events are often at the mercy of changing circumstances. There were times when it looked like the University of Alabama wasn’t going to have a basy ketball search at all. A nthony Grant had plenty of internal sup-port at Alabama, which is whyy d Florida coach Billy Donovan said Grant had that administrative sup-n port at the SEC Tournament in Nashville, just three days beforee n Grant was fired. T hings can d change. Minds can change. And that was in a situation where Ala-bama’s leaders — Bill Battle, hav-ing the fi nal call — did have com-plete control. y That was just in a firing. The easy part. A hiring is far more complex,, because you are dealing with can-d didates, and their psyches and e quirks, and you may think they are going to do one thing, and then theyy e do another. That doesn’t even take into account that things change. Take the Gregg Marshall/Ala-bama dynamic. The coach at Wich-ita State is a hot commodity. Ala-bama has known that all along. To its credit, Alabama is trying to redefine its recent basketball image and use the resources it has at its disposal to do so in a major way. That is as it should be. But situations that carry the potential of great reward (and it is all potential, since nothing is guaranteed) also carry risk. There was also the chance that another high-profile job would open. There was no way to be sure if there would be a vacancy at Texas, or Indiana, or somewhere else. Obviously, Texas’ entry into any college athletics job fair raises eyebrows. The Longhorns have many advantages, fi nancial and geographic. SEE HURT | 3C
TOP PICKS Here are three top candidates for the University of Alabama in its search for a men’s basketball coach. GREGG MARSHALL Eighth season as Wichita State head coach. Led the Shockers to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament. He makes $1.75 million per year.
STEVE PROHM Murray State head coach. Former student assistant and manager for Alabama. He makes $270,000 in base salary not including incentives.
UA FOOTBALL
Smith arrested on DUI charge
ARCHIE MILLER Dayton head coach, who signed an extension that would keep him as coach until 2022. Led Dayton to four straight 20-win seasons.
By Aaron Suttles
Alabama is willing to pay big money for its next coach, but it will also take commitment to the program to lure a big name By Cecil Hurt Sports Editor
Every contract negotiation in sports, even the ones that are only in the movies, are inevitably going to include the phrase “Show me the money.” The University of Alabama is willing to do that in its current basketball search. In attempting to lure a top candidate like Wichita State head coach Gregg Marshall, Alabama is prepared to pay a salary that would rank among the top 10 coaching salaries in the NCAA. But candidates at the highest level are looking for something else. That could best be paraphrased as “Show me the commitment.” No prominent coach wants to sign up for Mission Impossible, no matter how much the job pays. So the question is, does Alabama project a current profi le that makes top candidates believe they can win, not in a random “good season” but on a consistent basis.
Short-terms results aren’t on Alabama’s side. UA has made one NCAA appearance in the last nine years and has not won an NCA A game since 2006. UA fans are quick to point to the 40-year stretch before that, when Alabama was a consistent SEC contender and NCAA participant. What has changed since those days, and what can be revived, especially given the financial resources available at a school located at the top of the financial food chain? Gary Parrish, the college basketball editor for CBS Sports, covers every coaching change at every level of NCAA Division I basketball and thinks Alabama is “attractive” given the potential of the program. “Obviously, there is not a great basketball tradition there compared to the football program,” Parrish said. “But I think the Alabama job, if framed properly, can be attractive for a high-level candidate. You have a strong athletic department connected to a strong university with SEE COACH | 3C
Sports Writer
Alabama senior football player Geno Smith was arrested early Saturday morning on charges of driving under the infl uence, according to the Tuscaloosa County Sherriff’s Office. It’s his second such arrest during his time at Alabama. The safety from Atlanta was expected to compete for the starting free safety position. Smith has previously played the Star defensive back position and Geno Smith free safety. He was also arrested for DUI in the summer of 2013 just prior to the start of the season. The University of Alabama has not yet released a comment. Smith started six games in 2014, played in all 14 and recorded 56 tackles.
Reach Aaron Suttles at aaron@ tidesports.com or at 205-7220229.
CLEVELAND | Pushed to the brink, Kentucky’s still perfect and still playing. Andrew Harrison made two free throws with six seconds remaining, and the top-seeded Wildcats kept their unbeaten season and national title hopes intact with a 68-66 win over Notre Dame on Saturday INSIDE night in the Midwest Re- NCAA: gional fi nal. Wisconsin T he W i ld - punches cats (37-0) ad- ticket to Final vanced to the Fi- Four | 4C n a l Fo u r i n Indianapolis next week, where they will meet Wisconsin. It took everything Kentucky had to hold off the Fighting Irish (32-6), who came within seconds of shocking the tournament ’s overwhelming favorite. Notre Dame, which has a history of stunning upsets in football and basketball, wasn’t done until Jerian Grant’s double-clutched 3-pointer from the left corner was long. Kentucky’s bench stormed the floor and the Wildcats celebrated knowing they had ducked a major challenge. Karl-Anthony Towns scored 25 to lead Kentucky.
UA FOOTBALL
Taylor charged with domestic violence, again By Aaron Suttles Sports Writer
University of Alabama football player Jonathan Taylor was arrested Saturday evening and charged with domestic violence third-degree assault and domestic violence thirddegree criminal mischief by the Tuscaloosa Police Department. Taylor, 21, came Jonathan to Alabama after Taylor being dismissed from the University of Georgia program when the defensive tackle was arrested and also SEE TAYLOR | 8C
SOFTBALL | ALABAMA 8, TEXAS A&M 5 Alabama’s Chandler Dare catches a fly ball in right field in the seventh inning against Texas A&M at Rhoads Stadium on Saturday. Alabama won 8-5.
STAFF PHOTO | ERIN NELSON
Tide storms back to beat Aggies By Tommy Deas Executive Sports Editor
After falling behind by three runs early against Texas A&M on Saturday at Rhoads Stadium, it seemed to be two steps forward and one step back for the University of Alabama softball team. The last step was the one that mattered, and it landed squarely on the Aggies’ throats. The fourth-ranked Crimson Tide, after trailing all afternoon, rallied for six runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to take an 8-5 victory over the 23rd-ranked Aggies. Alabama (25-7 overall, 8-3 in SEC play) will go for the series sweep today at 1:30 p.m. “We just had some really good at-bats in the sixth inning,” Alabama coach Patrick Murphy said. “They passed it down the line really well.” Texas A&M (24-9, 6-5 SEC) roughed up Alabama starter Leslie Jury for a 3-0 lead in the
top of the fi rst inning. When Jury continued to have trouble in the second, the Crimson Tide needed someone to put out the fi re. Sydney Littlejohn came out of the bullpen to dampen A&M’s offense. Littlejohn (10-1) shut down the Aggies while Alabama began to chip away at the lead. Kallie Case doubled and scored on Demi Turner’s RBI single in the third, and Leona Lafaele hit a solo home run in the fourth to cut the A&M lead to 3-2. Just when it seemed Alabama had seized the momentum, however, UA took a step back. Texas A&M put together a couple of singles and took advantage of a throwing error by Litltejohn to plate two unearned runs in the top of the fi fth, pushing is lead to 5-2. On a cold and blustery afternoon, Alabama trailed by three runs going into the bottom of the sixth inning. Now UA needed someone to light a fi re. SEE STORMS | 3C