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ALABAMA ATHLETICS
UA RECRUITING Alex Morris
Good week for Tide could get much better
Lyons the new AD for W. Virginia
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t’s been a busy week with Alabama recruiting with new commitments, all-star games, and players arriving for early enrollment. A key five-star target is also set to announce his college decision Friday. T he Universit y of A labama added two major commitments last Friday at the Under Armour All-America game at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Fla. The Crimson Tide added Daron Payne, a fi ve-star defensive tackle from Shades Valley High School, and K enda l l S hef field, a Rivals100 cornerback from Fort Bend Marshall High School in Missouri City, Texas. Payne chose A laba ma over Auburn, while A NDREW Marshall picked BONE the Crimson Tide instead of Texas A&M. The two commitments strengthen A labama’s current No. 1 recruiting class, according to Rivals.com. There were plenty of Alabama commitments participating in allstar games in addition to Payne and Sheffield. Blake Barnett, a five-star quarterback f rom Santiago High School in Corona, Calif., spent t ime recr uit ing key t a rgets throughout the week. Barnett, who participated in the Under Armour game, heavily recruited Damien Harris, a five-star running back from Madison Southern High School in Berea, Ky. Harris has visited Alabama a few times, and will announce a decision at 12:15 p.m. on Friday. Harris has a fi nal three of Alabama, Kentucky and Ohio State. He is rated the No. 1 running back in the country. “He would be a great fit for our offense,” Barnett said. “We text just about every day. We stay in great contact with each other. He was on my team at The Opening. We have formed a great friendship. I hope to continue it for the next four to five years.” Harris is recruited by Alabama linebackers coach Kevin Steele. He also speaks with Alabama head coach Nick Saban at least once a week. “I like how they get their backs involved with the offense,” Harris said of Alabama. “They also have great players around them like Amari Cooper. You can’t load up the box against them. You can’t put nine players in the box like they do in high school. Alabama has great players and great tradition. They have an incredible coaching staff led by Coach Saban. I’ve seen the backs they have developed who are now in the NFL. It defi nitely makes me consider them because of the position I play. I am looking at what school best develops running backs. The ultimate goal is to play in the NFL. How they develop backs and get them ready for the next level is a big deal.” Other schools have their recruiting pitch against Alabama. “I have people saying why don’t you stay home and be something special,” Harris said. “A lot of schools will use a pitch against Alabama saying why go there and be another great player, whereas I can be a premier player at their school. I see it both ways. You want to be an X-factor, but at the same time you want to play with other great players. At the end of the day you have to do what is best for you.” The Tide coaching staff welcomed several commitments to campus for early enrollment: Deionte Thompson, a five-star safety from West Orange-Stark High School in Orange, Texas; Desherrius Flowers, a Rivals100 running back from Vigor High School in Prichard; Ronnie Harrison, a fourstar safety from Florida High SEE BONE | 3C
By Tommy Deas Executive Sports Editor
Jake Coker
David Cornwell
Who’s next? Tide offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin has several candidates for quarterback By D.C. Reeves Sports Writer Smarting from its Sugar Bowl loss, Alabama has plenty of questions to answer as it rolls into 2015. None will be more popular than this: Who will start at quarterback? One thing we know for certain is Alabama will have its third different starting quarterback in as many years, a quandary Alabama coach Nick Saban hasn’t faced since his fi rst three years at LSU (2000-02). The search for a replacement will start with senior Jake Coker, who has competed but lost out on starting jobs at Florida State and Alabama each of the past two seasons. Coker was in a tight battle with Blake Sims in preseason camp, served as the backup quarterback all season and is expected to enter the spring as the No. 1. He went 38 of 59 for 403 yards, with four touchdowns and no interceptions in 2014, getting most of that work while still battling for the job in the first month of the season. SEE QUARTERBACK | 4C
Alabama offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin
Shane Lyons, who has held the No. 2 position in the University of Alabama athletics department for more than three years, was named athletics director at West Virginia University on Monday. The 49-year-old Lyons, who has served as deputy director of athletics and chief operating officer at UA since November of 2011, will be returning to his alma mater and to the state where he was born and grew up. A native of Parkersburg, W.Va., Lyons earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in sports management from WVU. “I can’t express to you the excitement I have to come back home,” Lyons said. “It became very clear and evident to me when I was looking at this job, it was more than just an athletic director position but it was an opportunity to come home, to come home to the state that I love even though I had lef t the last 26 years and pursued my athletics ca- Shane reer. You never re- Lyons ally leave the feelings that you have for the Mountaineers behind.” Lyons was in charge of day-today operations of the Alabama athletic department, including oversight of UA’s 21 sports teams and compliance issues. He had direct oversight of men’s and women’s basketball, and associate athletics directors who supervised other sports reported to him. Lyons said he has no plans to bring any UA athletic department employees with him, but didn’t rule out the possibility of some of his Alabama colleagues joining him at some point. “The fi rst thing I want to do is kind of go there and evaluate the depar tment and where their strengths and weaknesses are from an administrative standpoint,” Lyons said. “That is a process that will probably take 90 to 120 days. “I think we all have a tendency to hire people we know and people we trust. I just don’t know at this point. I’m not making any predetermined type of assumptions before I get there. I’ve got to evaluate the entire program fi rst.” Lyons said he plans to fi nish out the month at UA before departing for Morgantown, W.Va. He will replace Oliver Luck, who is leaving for a regulatory position in the NCAA. “I have no doubt that Shane is ready to take on this next opportunity in his career,” UA Director of Athletics Bill Battle said in a statement. “Not only is he ready as a professional person, but his ability to work with people will make him an exceptional athletics SEE LYONS | 3C
ALABAMA BASKETBALL
Tide opens SEC play against Aggies By Cecil Hurt Sports Editor
The SEC, at least in basketball, may be perceived as Kentucky and the 13 Dwarves, but there are actually several SEC teams that feel like they have a chance to change that conversation — including the two teams playing tonight at Coleman Coliseum. Alabama and Texas A&M both fi nished preconference play with solid records, neither distinguished by eye-popping wins nor ruined by resume-wrecking losses. Thus, both teams come into tonight’s game with optimism, and a keen sense of having work ahead. “I think our (nonconference) schedule was great preparation for the SEC,” Alabama se-
Alabama vs. Texas A&M ■ ■ ■ ■ ■
When: 8 p.m., tonight Where: Coleman Coliseum Records: Alabama 10-3, Texas A&M 9-3 TV: SEC Network Radio: 95.3 FM
nior and top scorer Levi Randolph said on Monday. “We just want to get better every day, and don’t get complacent.” Texas A&M (9-3) brings a two-game winning streak into tonight’s game. The Aggies are coming off a 58-48 win over Hartford on Saturday in which they were victorious despite not making a 3-point shot in the game. SEE SEC | 4C
PHOTO | ALABAMA ATHLETICS
Michael Kessens (3) led Alabama with 18 points in the Crimson Tide’s last game, a 76-61 victory over North Florida, on Jan. 2. Alabama opens SEC play tonight against Texas A&M.