Tide ranked 17 in preseason coach’s poll

Alabama may be in the middle of a memorable season on the gridiron, but just across from the football practice field at Coleman Coliseum, the Alabama men’s basketball team is getting ready for a season of big expectations.

The Tide posted an undefeated record at home last season, finishing 12-4 in the SEC regular season, but barely missed out on an NCAA tournament birth after a poor performance in non-conference play.

This season there are big expectations surrounding the team going into head coach Anthony Grant’s third year. The team is ranked No. 17 in the first edition of the USA Today coach’s poll. Grant said the rankings create excitement around the program, but at the same time, the team can’t be too concerned with the rankings.

“There’s a level of excitement,” Grant said. “I think any time you have expectations, that’s a good thing. But at the same time you realize that it’s not going to win a game for you. It doesn’t really matter in terms of where you are in the preseason, you’ve got to go out and you got to perform.”

“I feel like coach is trying to embrace it,” sophomore guard Charles Hankerson said. “I feel like he’s been using it to drive us. Number 17, that’s good and all, but we want to be the best. We want to be the best team in the SEC and make noise in March.”

Returning starters ready to lead

Alabama returns three starters from last year’s team, and the team’s “big three” will go a long way in determining how far the Tide will go.

“I think you look at Trevor [Releford], Tony [Mitchell], and [JaMychal Green], those three guys, those three starters that are returning for us, our most experienced guys returning,” Grant said. “You certainly would be looking to those guys to provide that leadership for our team.”

“We have a lot of great players this year,” Hankerson said. “J-Myke is looking better, Tony, Trevor and them, we got all the other guys coming in. We just look really, really good.”

Alabama welcomes hyped freshman class

            Nick Saban isn’t the only coach in Tuscaloosa hauling in top-five recruiting classes. This year, Anthony Grant signed six highly touted prospects to his freshman class – a class that Rivals.com, a popular recruiting website, ranked fifth in the nation. That’s ahead of traditional powers like North Carolina, Louisville, and Ohio State.

Trevor Lacey, a five-star prospect and the 24th best prospect in the class according to Rivals, headlines the class alongside guards Levi Randolph and Rodney Cooper.

With so much young talent, the Tide will be loaded, but inexperienced.

“The team just has so much potential for this year,” Hankerson said of the talent.

“We’ve got 11 scholarship guys out there, so everybody’s got an opportunity to go out there and compete on a daily basis,” Grant said. “All the freshmen are trying to do the things that we’re asking them to do”