Alabama Crimson Tide News & Notes from the weekend

The Alabama Crimson Tide experienced a lot of action this week, including dramatic ups and downs from its basketball teams, a new addition to the football coaching staff, and yet, still no coordinator updates.

The Alabama Crimson Tide women’s basketball team had a hectic week, playing two undefeated and top-five ranked teams in a span of six days. The Lady Crimson Tide first were humbled by no. 4 LSU, losing at home by nearly 40 points to end a three-game winning streak. However, the team bounced back in spectacular fashion, beating a good Arkansas team on the road three days later.

Brittany Davis led the way once again with 22 points, while Jada Rice added 12 points and seven rebounds. In the end, it was veteran guard Hannah Barber who sank a three-pointer with under 10 seconds to go to give Alabama the lead for good. Barber’s steal a few seconds later cemented the win for Bama in an exhilarating but controversial finish.

The Tide had to quickly refocus after the victory and prepare to host Dawn Staley’s South Carolina Gamecocks, the top-ranked team in the nation. Alabama put up a respectable fight, hanging tight with the Gamecocks and never allowing them to go on a run and put the game away.

Still, South Carolina was the better team and ultimately won 65-52. Sarah Ashlee Barker’s 15 points and Davis’ 13 points and eight rebounds led the Crimson Tide.

Alabama women’s basketball now sits at 16-6 and 5-4 in the SEC. The Tide are in a good position to finish firmly in the upper half of the league and earn a favorable seeding in the SEC tournament.

Unfortunately, the team will have to finish the season without JaMya Mingo-Young, who is out for the year with injuries. Mingo-Young was among the most productive and versatile players in the conference last season, but has been in and out of the lineup in 2022-23.

Alabama Crimson Tide fall in SEC/Big 12 Challenge

On the men’s basketball side, the SEC/Big 12 Challenge took place over the weekend. The Big 12, which is college basketball’s deepest conference by a wide margin, won the challenge by a count of 7-3. The Alabama Crimson Tide men’s basketball team certainly didn’t do its part to help, losing 93-69 to unranked Oklahoma.

In addition, Auburn lost to West Virginia and LSU lost to Texas Tech, meaning the Big 12’s bottom three teams went undefeated against the SEC.

The weekend also featured Oklahoma State beating Ole Miss, Kansas State defeating Florida, and Kansas toppling Kentucky. An old Southwest Conference matchup saw Arkansas pitted against Baylor, and the Bears clipped the Razorbacks 67-64 in what was perhaps the best game of the challenge.

The only SEC teams to win this weekend were Tennessee (over Texas), Mississippi State (over TCU), and Missouri (over Iowa State).

Alabama Crimson Tide Football news: NIL demands & coaching changes

Coach Nick Saban has never been particularly fond of excessive NIL deals, and he is not afraid to show it with his actions as well as his words. Reportedly, Coach Saban turned down a high school cornerback who asked for $800,000 in NIL money to sign with Alabama.

Saban also denied a former player’s request for half a million dollars to stay in Tuscaloosa. The player has since entered the transfer portal, and many have speculated that it is former starting guard Javion Cohen, now of the Miami Hurricanes.

Alabama football is still awaiting updates for both of its coordinator positions. The defensive coordinator search, in particular, has been painstakingly long. Although there have been no concrete developments regarding the new DC, Alabama did add to its staff on that side of the ball. Former Alabama player Jake Long rejoins the Crimson Tide as a defensive analyst.

Long was a walk-on defensive lineman in his playing days in Tuscaloosa, and formerly worked as a grad assistant under Jeremy Pruitt at Alabama. In the 2022 season, Long was a GA under Dan Lanning at Oregon.

The coming week should bring plenty more Alabama Crimson Tide news. Ideally, it will bring the long-awaited announcement of a couple of coordinator hires.