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The Crimson Tide has identified (VCU Head Coach Anthony) Grant as a finalist in the search to replace Mark Gottfried, sources told the Press-Register today. UA officials are also thought to maintain interest in a small number of other prominent coaches such as Missouri's Mike Anderson, Southern Cal's Tim Floyd and Minnesota's Tubby Smith.

One of the hottest names on the mid-major coaching circuit the past two years, Grant led VCU to a 24-10 record this season and No. 11 seed in the NCAA tournament. The Rams dropped a 65-64 first-round Thursday night heartbreaker to sixth-seeded UCLA when senior guard Eric Maynor's contested shot misfired at the buzzer.

almost 3 years ago Disreputable_tiny Todd 16 comments 0 recs  | 

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I'm by no means....

…a basketball expert, but I’d see any of those folks as a major upgrade over Gottfried. It’d be really fun to see Anderson’s brand of basketball. It was at least exciting at UAB, which is more than can be said for UA basketball recently.

by Nico2.0 on Mar 21, 2009 6:55 PM CDT reply actions  

My first choice would be

Anderson, but Grant would be in my top five. I think we could win with either.

I hate the NCAA more than UT & AU combined. At least with UT & AU you got a fighting chance.

by 5026 on Mar 21, 2009 7:09 PM CDT reply actions  

I have no prob with Grant

it would be a great hire

When you are an Alabama fan you are expected to hate Auburn, I hate Tennessee because I want to.

by bammer on Mar 21, 2009 8:07 PM CDT reply actions  

No doubt...

Grant would be a great hire. My only concern is that with him being at VCU, the Virginia job might be a bit more attractive because it wouldn’t involve uprooting the family as much.

Personally, I hope we hire him. Don’t get me wrong, I’d love to have Izzo, but personally I think that our odds of getting him are about like the odds of winning the lottery, regardless of what a bunch of Internet rumors say.

by outsidethesidelines on Mar 21, 2009 8:40 PM CDT reply actions  

And on that front...

According to Mapquest, Charlottesville is only about one hour from Richmond.

Hopefully we’ll find something out soon. If we are really identifying targets, and most of the candidates’ season is over, I imagine we should start getting some firm news soon.

by outsidethesidelines on Mar 21, 2009 8:52 PM CDT up reply actions  

I would prefer Anderson

but as you mentioned, Grant would be an immense upgrade over MG.

I do think, however, if we get Anderson, we get him for the long haul. Not sure how long we could keep Grant.

Guitars, Tiki Bars, and a whole lot of booze

by BamaReturns07 on Mar 22, 2009 7:59 AM CDT up reply actions  

I kind of agree, but...

I kind of agree with you. Anderson grew up in Birmingham and from what I know his entire family is down here. On the other hand, Grant is really a Florida guy who would probably jump at any of their three major jobs, and he has no ties whatsoever to the state of Alabama, much less the university.

If we got Anderson, I imagine he’d be here as long as we would keep him. I imagine the Alabama job would be the closest thing to a “dream” job that he probably has in terms of location. On the other hand, like you said with Grant, I could easily see him leaving after some success.

All of that said, though, I won’t complain the first bit with Grant. He’s arguably the top mid-major coach out there, and we have been terrible for three straight years now, so we have no room to complain. Personally, though, I’d be very happy with both Grant or Anderson, and frankly think both would constitute a major upgrade over Gottfried.

by outsidethesidelines on Mar 22, 2009 1:46 PM CDT up reply actions  

One more note...

I hate to unnecessarily bring race into things as an element, but honestly considering that both are African-Americans that would be good in many ways for the University. Again, I hate to bring race up, but unfortunately more than a few still think of Alabama as an institution where race is still a major problem, and it certainly wouldn’t hurt to get some good publicity on that front by hiring an African-American to be head coach of the second biggest athletics program on campus.

by outsidethesidelines on Mar 22, 2009 1:52 PM CDT up reply actions  

I think hiring

an African-American would be a great move and I suspect fan support for Grant or Anderson would be overwhelming because both are winners and they would bring winning back to Bama Basketball. I do not think Grant would stay too long if he managed to get us to say the Elite 8. But, you never know, he may surprise us and stay a long time.

I hate the NCAA more than UT & AU combined. At least with UT & AU you got a fighting chance.

by 5026 on Mar 22, 2009 8:11 PM CDT up reply actions  

I'm liking these options...

It’s great Bama HAS options to like!

What's G? Nothing but freakin' Gatorade. Geesh.

by FormerHuntsvilleStar on Mar 22, 2009 8:02 PM CDT reply actions  

A very good friend of mine...

is a local HS basketball coach involved with college camps and inner basketball circles. He informed me that Bama may offer John Callipari over $2.5 M. Once again, this is just a rumor, but he was almost certain it was true.

by BigChief on Mar 23, 2009 11:15 AM CDT reply actions  

why why why

would he come to Alabama…he’s building a freakin powerhouse at Memphis…coming to bama would be a huge step back! Not that i wouldn’t love to see it but i just dont see in a million years that happening..

When you are an Alabama fan you are expected to hate Auburn, I hate Tennessee because I want to.

by bammer on Mar 23, 2009 2:38 PM CDT up reply actions  

Depends on your definition of 'step back'

I’ll believe it when I see it (hmm, I remember saying that about 2 years ago), but if the money is good, now would be a good time to get out of horrific C-USA and into the SEC where at this moment there is not a lot of separation between the best teams and the worst teams. Bama has some players, and the right coach could contend for the SEC immediately. That being said, I think you could put the names of every coach in the ncaa tourney in a hat and pull one out and it would be an instant upgrade, but if Anderson, Grant and Callipari are legit candidates, then we can’t go wrong.

by yellowhammer on Mar 23, 2009 3:04 PM CDT up reply actions  

Callipari isn't interested....

i don’t know the guy but there is no way. He just went 16-0 in that terrible conference and is set to pull an AMAZING recruiting class in this year. C-USA is good enough that if they dominate and play some tough OOC games, they are a lock for a #1 or #2 seed…there is NO reason (besides money) that he would leave Memphis…this is nothing more than a silly rumor.

When you are an Alabama fan you are expected to hate Auburn, I hate Tennessee because I want to.

by bammer on Mar 23, 2009 6:10 PM CDT up reply actions  

Callipari....

….would be the worst thing that could happen to Alabama basketball. He runs a thug program, and we do not need that scrutiny.

by Todd on Mar 23, 2009 9:23 PM CDT up reply actions  

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