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Monday afternoon brought some pleasant news to the Alabama Crimson Tide basketball program, and especially to freshman point guard Collin Sexton.
For the first time in program history, a rookie ‘Bama player made the All-American team:
Sexton did not make the Freshman or first-through-third teams, but he did land on the AP’s All-American Honorable Mention team. Sexton had the third-best scoring season for any Alabama player (632), smashed the rookie scoring record held by James “Hollywood” Robinson. His 19.2 points per game led the Tide (as did his 196 made baskets.) He was second in the SEC in scoring and dished 3.6 dimes a game, hauling in 3.8 boards a contest as well.
He also had numerous heroics throughout the year, highlighted by nearly single-handedly outscoring Minnesota in a 3-on-5 second half; outdueling Trae Young on national television, memorably called out Penny Hardaway’s sorry son in an AAU trip, and putting ‘Bama into its first NCAA Tournament in six years and first win in over a dozen years with this legendary moment
To celebrate all of these and many more achievements, I hereby declare March 29, 2018 Collin Sexton Appreciation Day.
Enjoy him unofficially for a few more days. The lottery pick will soon be a very rich young man.
Leave your favorite gifs, links, memories, and plaudits below. Congratulations to Sexton, to the Alabama coaching staff, and to the rest of the team for helping bring about this important Crimson Tide milestone: If you wanna sell Tuscaloosa as a basketball destination, Sexton’s recruitment and his subsequent performance may very well prove to be a watershed moment.