I was shocked when the news broke that not only was Kristy Curry leaving Alabama, but that she had accepted the USF position. Now it is time to make sure the next hire Greg Byrne makes to replace Curry is as close to a homerun hire as possible, and it seems a no-brainer the first call made should be to current Hoover Girls' Coach Krystle Johnson.
Johnson just won her sixth straight state championship at Hoover and, of course, played college ball for Bama. She already knows how recruiting works as top high school programs around the country stay at that top level by recruiting around the state and country.
Her experience as a high school coach both in Huntsville and now Hooever gives her a leg up on other possible candidates who might not know how recruiting goes in the state of Alabama, but being that she has won at the highest level in the state should make recruits around the state and in surrounding states excited to come play for her if she becomes the coach in Tuscaloosa.
Honestly, I have no idea if she has any interest in returning to her Alma Mater or moving up to the college ranks, but one would think that, at some point, having achieved everything she can at the highest level of girls' basketball in the state of Alabama, looking to become a college coach would interest her.
It may be a little risky bringing in a high school coach with no coaching experience at the college level, but when a coach has achieved as much as she as it does not seem that much of a gamble.
Having played at Alabama, she has an idea of how basketball works at the Capstone, especially on the women's side, and she may just be the one who can take the Crimson Tide program to the next level. Curry did a great job rebuilding the program and maybe had reached her ceiling, having moved up to the middle of the pack in the SEC and making the second round of the NCAA Tournament annually over the last couple of seasons.
Now the decision makers need to find a coach who can take the program to the next level and keep key players like Ace Austin and Essence Cody in the program, and it seems a no-brainer to at least reach out and present a lucrative offer to Krystle Johnson.