College basketball: Penn State claims NIT championship. 4C
Sports
F R I D A Y , A P R I L 3 , 2009
WWW.TUSCALOOSANEWS.COM
BALL Tide lands commitment from Pratttville
Nick Perry, a safety from Prattville, ended his football recruitment Wednesday afternoon with a commitment to the University of Alabama. Perry is one of the top overall prospects in the state and quickly climbing the charts. He received scholarship offers from Alabama, Auburn, LSU, Southern Miss, Stanford and Vanderbilt. The decision to commit to the Crimson Tide was on easy one. “I always wanted to play at Alabama,” said Perry. “It has always been a dream school for me. When I first got the offer, I was excited and knew that is where I wanted to be. I felt like it was time to go ahead and make my decision.” Perry had 45 tackles and four interceptions in 2008 helping lead Prattville to the Class 6A state crown. He continues the pipeline of top players who once played for the powerhouse program including Roman Harper, Kyle Tatum, Bobby Greenwood, Travis McCall and Nick Gentry. Prattville assistant coach LaBrian Stewart talked very highly of the 6foot-2, 195-pound safety. “What sets Nick apart from other players is he has the total package,” Stewart told ScoutSouth.com. “He is a ball hawk, and he finds ways to get to the ball. That’s why he has so many interceptions. He is also a very smart young man with a lot of charisma.” Perry holds a 3.8 GPA and scored a 22 on the ACT.
STILLMAN FOOTBALL
Cole stresses fundamentals for inexperienced Tigers By Andrew Carroll Sports Writer
TUSCALOOSA | L.C. Cole, Stillman College’s new head football coach, watched his Tigers participate in a spring scrimmage on Wednesday, but he didn’t reach any long-term conclusions for the 2009 season. Cole and his staff are in a teaching mode, stressing fundamentals and evaluating an 85-man squad that has only six seniors and six juniors. Stillman lost several senior starters from the 2008 team that went 3-8 overall, 2-7 in the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.
That’s what keeps me going. I’ve been coaching 26 years. When I can see the players getting up and being committed to it, that keeps me driving on.” Cole said the players have been dedicated about attending 6 a.m. meetings, but actual practices have been limited by rain. The Tigers will play their spring game at 3 p.m. on April 18. Cole plans to let the players pick the squads in what he called a “mock NFL draft” on April 16. Darrell Nevis, DeAndre Holley and Surrun Allen have been competing at quarterback. Nevis played in nine games last year as a junior. He threw for 639 yards with three touchdown
passes and six interceptions. He also rushed for 132 yards and a score. Holley, a freshman in 2008, played in three games. He rushed for 19 yards and a touchdown and completed two passes for 8 yards. Cole said he expects running back Quinn Porter to return in the fall. Porter led the Tigers in rushing as a junior, gaining 740 yards and scoring six touchdowns. He also caught 27 passes for 350 yards and five touchdowns. “In Division II you get 10 semesters, so if he were to come out for spring football that would be his 10th semester,” Cole said. SEE STILLMAN | 7C
PRO FOOTBALL
Getting on her
Game FACE
Stack-Eaton’s personality on the gymnastics floor is quite different from off it
Busy weekend for Crimson Tide teams TUSCALOOSA | The University of Alabama will host 10 athletic events this weekend. The Alabama baseball, softball, gymnastics, women’s tennis and rowing teams are all competing at home this weekend, adding to a jam-packed schedule. The festivities begin today with the baseball and women’s tennis teams in action and will conclude Sunday as the softball, baseball and women’s tennis teams close things out. The No. 25 women’s tennis team, off to a hot 13-3 start, will participate in two matches, starting with the No. 13 Tennessee Volunteers today at 3 p.m. before bringing its weekend to a close against No. 2 Georgia on Sunday at 1 p.m. The Alabama baseball team looks to rebound after a tough weekend in Gainesville, Fla., as it plays host to Tennessee for a three-game series. Alabama’s up-and-coming rowing team looks to continue its winning ways when it plays host to SMU and North Carolina starting at 8:30 a.m. Saturday on the Black Warrior River. Fans can watch the action from River Road Park East located at the intersection of Jack Warner Parkway and McCorvey Drive. The No. 4 Crimson Tide softball team hosts Georgia in a three-game series beginning with a doubleheader Saturday, with first pitch slated at 1 p.m. The Alabama gymnastics team hosts the NCAA Northeast Regional Championships Saturday at 6 p.m. The SEC-champion Crimson Tide along with five of the nation’s top teams will be vying for a spot in the national championships.
ATLANTA | In a surprise move, Georgia has hired Nevada’s Mark Fox to replace Dennis Felton. Georgia will announce the hire at a news conference on Friday morning, a person with knowledge of the hire confirmed on Thursday night. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because the hire has not been officially announced. The announcement is a surprise because Georgia athletic director Damon Evans left Athens on Thursday for the Final Four in Detroit, where he was expected to interview candidates. Fox led Nevada to a 21-13 record this season. The hire comes after Georgia was unable to hire Mike Anderson, who instead agreed to a new deal at Missouri on Tuesday.
“One of the things that’s been encouraging is the effort that the kids are giving,” Cole said. “This is a young football team, and now we’re working basically on fundamentals. “What we’re putting them through right now is pretty tough. I tell the kids all the time that tough times don’t last forever, tough people do. In order for us to win this championship they have to go through a rigorous spring practice. Then I can get the feel of how we’re going to play. What we’re trying to do is give these guys an opportunity to show us what they can do. “We do have a lot of kids who are dedicated and are doing the right thing.
ALABAMA GYMNASTICS
Visit TideSpor ts.com for Andrew Bone’s recruiting coverage. Reach Andrew Bone at abone@scout.com.
AP source: Georgia hires Nevada’s Fox
SECTION C
By Christopher Walsh Sports Writer
TUSCALOOSA | Like most of her teammates, University of Alabama freshman gymnast Geralen Stack-Eaton didn’t know about Georgia’s two falls on balance beam at the recent SEC Championships in Nashville, nor how much of a lead the Crimson Tide had heading into the final rotation. The coaching staff never said anything, so she still didn’t know after her 9.9 floor routine made it all but impossible for any other team to deny Alabama its sixth conference championship, or believe the title was secure until after ever y performance had been completed and her comrades started going “crazy” celebrating in the middle of the Sommet Center. “I was, ‘So did we win?’” Stack-Eaton said earlier this week while practicing for Saturday’s NCAA Northeast Regional at Coleman Coliseum. “‘Yeah!’ ‘Really?’” SEE GAME FACE | 7C
NCAA NORTHEAST REGIONAL ■ Who: No. 3 Alabama, No. 9 Oklahoma, No. 15 Missouri, Central Michigan, New Hampshire and Maryland ■ At Stake: Top two teams advance to NCAA Championships, Lincoln, Neb., April 16-18 ■ Where: Coleman Coliseum, Saturday 6 p.m. ■ Radio: 90.7 FM
ALABAMA BASEBALL
Tide trying to find a way to finish strong By Cecil Hurt Sports Editor
TUSCALOOSA | There can be all sorts of explanations for how the baseball teams from the University of Alabama and the University of Tennessee have found themselves in the situation they are in — fighting to stay out of the cellar in the SEC. The causes are less important going into this weekend’s series between the two teams at Sewell-Thomas Stadium on the UA campus, though. What matters to both coaches is finding a cure. The Volunteers are currently trailing everyone in the SEC race with a 1-8 league record (12-16 overall). Alabama, after being swept at Florida last weekend, isn’t doing much better. The
ALABAMA VS. TENNESSEE ■ When: 6:30 p.m. ■ Where: Sewell-Thomas Stadium ■ Records: Alabama 17-10, 3-6 in the SEC; Tennessee 12-16, 1-8 ■ Radio: 95.3 FM
Crimson Tide is tied for ninth place with Mississippi State and Vanderbilt, with all three teams coming in at 3-6 in league play. Alabama is 17-10 overall after a Wednesday night win over Mississippi Valley State. Arkansas leads the SEC with an 8-1 record. It is still early in the league race, but neither team can afford to let another conference series slip away.
“We’ve been struggling a little,” said UT’s second-year head coach, Todd Raleigh, on the SEC coaches’ teleconference on Thursday. “We’ve been right there n some games but we just can’t seem to get over the hump.” The Volunteers have been swept in their last two series by Georgia and Florida, but have had two one-run losses and two two-run losses in those six games. “It has been several things, really,” Raleigh said. “We’ve hit the ball well at times and we have pitched well at times. We have left too many guys on base. That has been a problem. But we are young. We start five sophomores and two freshmen. So we are going to get better. SEE FINISH | 7C
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Denver Broncos quarterback Jay Cutler was traded to the Chicago Bears for quarterback Kyle Orton and two first-round draft picks and a third-round pick.
Broncos agree to trade Cutler to Bears The Associated Press
ENGLEWOOD, COLO. | Jay Cutler got his wish Thursday: a ticket out of Denver. And the Chicago Bears have a franchise quarterback for the first time in decades. The Broncos on Thursday traded their disgruntled Pro Bowl passer to the Bears, who’ve gone through a bevy of quarterbacks without much success ever since Jim McMahon was calling plays in the 1980s. The Broncos get quarterback Kyle Orton in return, along with two firstround draft picks and a third-rounder. The Broncos get the Bears’ top pick in this year’s draft, which is No. 18 overall, and Chicago’s first-round draft pick in 2010, along with a third-round selection this year (No. 84 overall). Denver also gave up a fifth-rounder this year. Calls to Cutler’s agent, Bus Cook, went unanswered. His office in Hattiesberg, Miss., was closed because of bad weather and his home phone had a message asking callers to call back later. An e-mail sent by The Associated Press wasn’t returned. Although Cutler is 17-20 as a starter, he’s been victimized by dismal defenses in Denver, and he was an impressive 13-1 when the Broncos held opponents to 21 points or fewer. Last year, Cutler threw for a franchise record 4,526 yards, 25 touchdowns and 18 interceptions. In his 37-game career in Denver, he completed 62.5 percent of his passes for 9,024 yards, 54 TDs and 37 interceptions.