Welcome to UA, Ben Eblen!

Ben Eblen, a 6 foot 185 lb point guard from Florida Air Academy in Melbourne, FL has committed to Alabama. Scout.com rates him as a 3 star. He was previously committed to VCU.

Scout lists his strenghts as leadership and passing, but says he needs to improve on shooting off the dribble. Conversely, ESPN.com says he is good off the dribble, but needs to learn the PG position better. I have not been able to find his stats. He had offers from Rutgers, St. John's, VCU, and possibly Clemson and Virginia Tech.

Good job by Coach Grant and staff of convincing Eblen to follow them to UA.

EDIT: Bham news. Looks like he averaged 10pts, 8 assists and 4 steals on a 25-1 team that made it to the quarterfinals.

The Auburn limousine. I wonder if Lebo gets to use this sweet ride

This is not photoshopped. Really. I thought it was and had to have 3 people tell me it was real. Then out of curiousity I checked out Auburn's website and there it was.

Normally I don't pay attention to anything that happens in Auburn or Tennessee, but this one was just too good to not give a shout out to.

Un-Be-liev-able. Now that is AUsome with a capital A!

Edit- the hits keep on coming... take a look at this marketing genius...

CAG's staff complete and the great Rico Pickett chooses a new school

I think Pettway will grow into a nice recruiting role. Maybe he'll get to work with our PGs and teach them how to play a little defense.

No surprises, but it's done. Alabama basketball coach Anthony Grant finalized his coaching staff Satuday, formally annoucing the trio of Dan Hipsher and John Brannen and Antoine Pettway as assistant coaches. Grant also added Tony Pujol as the director of basketball operations, James Kane as the basketball video coordinator and Andy Weigel as strength and conditioning coach.

Read the rest here

Rico Pickett enrolls with the Jaspers of Manhattan. I thought he was going big time, but truth be told there's nothing better than being a young guy in NYC. I begrugingly say good luck to him... maybe he grew up a little from his turbelent year at the Capstone. I hope so.

Dan Hipsher to join CAG on staff

University of South Florida assistant head coach Dan Hipsher is leaving the men's basketball team to become an assistant at Alabama under Anthony Grant.

Hipsher, 54, came to USF two seasons ago as Coach Stan Heath's No. 1 assistant. However, Hipsher opted to rejoin Grant, who he recruited in high school for Dayton and also gave Grant his first coaching job at Stetson. Grant was hired March 27 at Alabama after three seasons at Virginia Commonwealth.

Hipsher is the second USF assistant to leave in the past week. Byron Samuels was fired by Heath last week.

Hipsher, who interviewed with Grant last week, did not return calls seeking comment. Heath said Tuesday night he was not aware of Hipsher's decision and said he would talk to Hipsher today.

Linky

Anthony Grant commercials

I'm guessing they were on ESPN during the glorified practice (A-Day). I didn't watch it so I don't know. I give credit as it really looks that the athletic department is giving more than just lip service to basketball.

I was going to link them, but they seem to have been pulled/deleted since the last time I viewed them.

Slow time of the year... at some point I'll put up a list of underclassmen in the NBA Draft.

New Scoreboard on the way?

As many of you know, I've been ranting about the scoreboards at Coleman for quite some time. There have been rumors for years of getting a new one, that would hang from the ceiling at center court. Apparently, the Board of Trustees is at least discussing authorizing the purchase of a new scoreboard. Let's hope this gets done.

SEC and the NBA draft 2001-2008

I made a post almost 3 years ago saying the conference was on the rise. Man was I way off on that.

I added 2007 and 2008 draft results. What a difference 3 years make. How many will be drafted this year... my guess is about 5.

2008
Anthony Randolph- LSU (14)
Marreese Speights- UF (16)
Sonny Weems- Ark (39)
Richard Hendrix- Bama (49)
Shan Foster- Vandy (51)
Joe Crawford- UK (58)

2007
Al Horford- UF (3)
Corey Brewer- UF (7)
Joakim Noah- UF (9)
Glen Davis- LSU (35)
Jermareo Davidson- Bama (36)
Chris Richard- UF (41)
Derrick Byars- Vandy (42)
Taureen Green- UF (52)

2006
Tyus Thomas- LSU (#4)
Ronnie Brewer- Arkansas (#14)
Renaldo Balkman- South Carolina (#20)
Rajon Rondo- Kentucky (#21)

2005
David Lee- Florida (#30)
Brandon Bass- LSU (#33)
Lawrence Roberts- Miss St (#55)

2004
Justin Reed- Ole Miss (#41)
Cristian Drejer- Florida (#52)
Matt Frieje- Vanderbilt (#55)
Rashad Wright- Georgia (#60)

2003
Jarvis Hayes- UGA (#10)
Mario Austin- Miss St (#36)
Derrick Zimmerman- Miss St (#40)
Keith Bogans- Kentucky (#43)
Matt Bonner- Florida (#45)
Mo Williams- Alabama (#47)

2002
Marcus Haislip- Tennessee (#13)
Tayshaun Prince- Kentucky (#23)
Vincent Yarborough- Tennessee (#33)
Rod Grizzard- Alabama (#39)

2001
Joe Johnson- Arkansas (#10)
Gerald Wallace- Alabama (#25)
Jamison Brewer- Auburn (#41)

Did I count that right... the SEC has produced 15 First Round draft picks since 2001?

Grant's contract details released

$1.8 Million per year, plus incentives, 7 year deal that must be renegotiated every 3 years. Seems reasonable to me. Details here.

Pearson to the Puppies

Coach Pearson has landed a job on Mark Fox's staff at UGA according to the Atlanta Urinal-Constipation. I was really hoping he would get a head job somewhere, but this is a good gig for him. Best of luck to him and the Dogs, with the exception of one game per year.

Looking back- What was xCMG's most defining win?

I'll list them... and if I forgot any let me know:

1) Alabama vs Florida- Pettway's GW layup to win the SEC regular season title.
2) Beating Stanford in the 2nd round of the NCAAs
3) Beating Syracuse to advance to Elite 8.
4) Beating Mississippi State by 49. Doubling the score 98-49.
5) Beating Oklahoma in the Coaches vs Cancer game in NYC (I believe).

I go with #3 as it's a milestone in Alabama basketball history... something I hope we surpass under CAG in the near future. Beating the defending Nat'l Champs and getting past the Sweet Sixteen was doubly sweet for me.

Forgot to add... Pettway to be part of CAG's staff.

Something I read... not confirmed as of yet. I hope it's true.

Predictions: NCAA title game, MLB, and the WNBA

NCAA title game
Michigan State is a nice story and if this were the NFL the story would end with them winning the title. That's not the case. North Carolina is going to smoke them like UNLV smoked Duke in 1990. This is not a bold prediction as UNC smacked down MSU earlier this season. UNC by 18.

Speaking of college hoops, I have to admit I have watched less tournament games than I have the past 15 years. The tournament itself hasn't been good or exciting save the Nova-Pitt game and a few 1st round games.

MLB
AL East
Yankees
Rays
Red Sux
Blue Jays
Orioles

AL Central
White Sox
Indians
Royals
Tigers
Twins

AL West
Angels
Rangers
A's
Mariners

NL East
Mets
Phillies
Braves
Nationals
Marlins

NL Central
Cards
Cubs
Astros
Reds
Brewers
Pirates

NL West
Dodgers
Diamondbacks
Padres
Rockies
Giants

Wildcards- Indians and Cubs
AL Champ- Yankees
NL Champ- Dodgers
WS Champ- Dodgers in 6... Torre gets to laugh at Yankee mismanagement.

WNBA
I can't believe they haven't folded yet.

Pearson Gone and other rumblings

Coach Pearson will not be retained by Coach Grant, according to the Birmingham News. I like Coach Pearson, and thought he did an excellent job under the circumstances, but this is probably for the best. There is a major potential for problems when a new coach keeps around members from the old staff, and I would imagine Anthony Grant will probably clean house. I would not have minded seeing Coach Pearson stay, and I hope he gets a good job somewhere.

Also, rumor on the message boards is that we will be moving volleyball and women's basketball out of Coleman Coliseum and into Foster's Auditorium. This would give the men's basketball team exclusive use of the practice facility. This may be a popular move with most, but I don't like it. While I am obviously a fan of the men's program, I want UA to excel at all sports. This would be a crippling move for women's basketball. They work just as hard and do not deserve to be relegated to the asbestos infested dinosaur known as Fosters. Wendell Hudson is working hard to get that program turned around, but I can't imagine how he would go about recruiting young ladies to play in Foster's. Coach Grant spoke in his press conference about the University making a committment to succeed in all sports, not just football. Just as Coach Grant would not like Coach Saban making decisions that adversely impact men's basketball, Coach Grant and the athletic department should not make decisions that are detrimental to the competitiveness of our women's teams.