Alabama St

State of '08: Alabama

Shawn Siegel — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 11:26:28 -0700

What is the top D1 basketball program in each state.. and which program is the worst? While there's not much competition in Hawaii.. there are great debates to be had in loaded regions like California, North Carolina, and Texas. The State of '08 is a state by state ranking based mostly on recent success (the last five years) mixed in with subjective factors such as conference prestige, historical success, and overall program direction.

Up today: Alabama.. the first of the individual state articles. For more info, check out the State of '08 introduction.

Reader Poll: What is the Best Program in Alabama?

ALABAMA

Alabama - The Crimson are coming off a down season with an RPI of 114. But that still topped SEC rival Auburn, and for most of the past decade Alabama has been a Top 50 team.. even breaking into the Top 20 at times. From 2002 to 2006, Bama made the NCAA Tournament five-straight times and could very well be back there again in 2009.

UAB - During the same period that Bama was consistently making the Tourney, UAB was also in the midst of a nice run.. dancing for three straight seasons from 2003 to 2006. Mike Davis is finally getting things back on track following the departure of Mike Anderson. After an NIT bid last year, another NCAA Tournament trip is definitely possible now that Robert Vaden returns for another go-around.

South Alabama - Ronnie Arrow picked up where John Pelphrey left off, and the Jaguars made the postseason for the third straight season. While this year's group won't be able to match last year's 24 wins or Top 40 RPI, they should once again be in the running for a Sun Belt Conference title.

Auburn - The last five seasons have been pretty brutal for Auburn fans, as the Tigers have basically been a mediocre .500 team in that time. There's no reason to expect they'll break out of that trend, and another sub-100 RPI should be expected.

Samford - While not a powerhouse by any means, Samford has had decent success under veteran coach Jimmy Tillette. In '99 & '00, Samford made back to back NCAA Tournaments.. though the wins have slowed down of late. 2006 was Samford's last quality run with 18 wins and an RPI of 107.

6. Alabama State - The Hornets actually won the SWAC regular season title with a 15-3 record last season, but MVSU won the Tournament bid. The Hornets made the Big Dance in 2001 & 2004, but hadn't had much to cheer about in the meantime.

7. Troy - While the Trojans occasionally make some noise on the football field, there's nothing to get excited about on the hardwood. The usual season recently is basically 11-12 wins and an RPI of 240.

8. Alabama A&M - While not quite as bad as Jacksonville State, A&M has run into some lean years since making the Big Dance in 2005. Even that season, they started 1-8 against D1 teams and didn't beat anyone ranked better than 240th all season.

9. Jacksonville State - With the exception of a decent 15 win season in 2006, JSU has been awful recently. Last year, they were 3rd worst in the country in RPI, with provisionals North Florida and NJIT finishing at the bottom.

State of '08: The 7 Two-Program States

State of '08: The Introduction

2008 NIT Capsule: Alabama State

Joel Welser — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 14:47:02 -0700

Alabama State Hornets

Southwestern Athletic Conference (20-10, 15-3)

Big Wins: 1/12 Mississippi Valley State (71-55), 2/16 at Alabama A&M (85-70), 3/8 Jackson State (103-83)

Bad Losses: 1/7 at Jackson State (71-81), 2/9at Mississippi Valley State (60-72), 2/23 Alcorn State (69-73)

Coach: Lewis Jackson

Probable Starters:

Brandon Brooks, Junior, Guard, 9.4 ppg, 6.2 apg, 4.2 rpg

Andrew Hayles, Junior, Guard, 14.7 ppg, 3.7 rpg

Joel Bosh, Senior, Forward, 6.8 ppg, 4.4 rpg

Brandon Gordon, Senior, Forward, 9.6 ppg, 5.4 rpg

Chief Kickingstallionsims, Junior, Center, 8.0 ppg, 3.6 rpg, 1.0 bpg

Key Roleplayers:

Jamar Sanders, Freshman, Guard, 5.4 ppg, 1.5 apg

Rashard Provitt, Junior, Guard, 4.4 ppg, 3.0 rpg

Roland Fitch, Freshman, Forward, 6.2 ppg, 3.5 rpg

Richard Lott, Senior, Forward, 6.5 ppg, 4.5 rpg

Why They Can Surprise:

If you were a fan of Alabama State last year, but didn’t keep tabs on the Hornets this year, you would not recognize very many faces. And it was because of that huge group of newcomers that Coach Lewis Jackson’s team was expected to finish near the bottom of the Southwestern Athletic Conference. Instead, Alabama State ended up on top of the conference and it really was not even close.

Besides the team playing together very well, the frontcourt can take a lot of the credit for the Hornets surprise season. Forwards Brandon Gordon and Joel Bosh will not put up 20 points in a game very often, but they both can stretch the defense with their outside shooting ability. Gordon and Bosh are also the leading rebounders on the team and that is one of the strengths of the Hornets. Having a 7-1 center in Chief Kickingstallionsims to clear space in the paint does not hurt.

Why They Can Disappoint:

The problem is Alabama State is not a great shooting team. Andrew Hayles is the lone threat from beyond the arc and he is also the only player on the team to average double-digit scoring. But Hayles, one of the few holdovers from last season, is not a bad guy to depend on during his junior campaign. He is the most aggressive player on the team and will get to the basket and the charity stripe with consistency. But at the free-throw line is where the Hornets run into more problems. Hayles is fine free-throw shooter and so are most of the other guards, but a few of the forwards have major trouble at the line.

Who To Watch:

Brandon Brooks might not have the shooting ability of Hayless, or come anywhere close, but the point guard is the team’s third leading scorer at 9.4 points per game. But more importantly, Brooks sets the tempo for the offense and plays solid defense. The point guard averages 6.2 assists per game and only turns it over 2.4 times. Brooks does a solid job getting everybody involved, but somebody else has to step up and become a second or third scoring threat.

By the Numbers:

Scoring Offense: 71.6 (123^rd in nation, 1^st in conference)

Scoring Defense: 64.7 (79, 2)

Field-Goal Percentage: 46.1 (69, 1)

Field-Goal Defense: 40.4 (34, 1)

Three-Point Field Goals Per Game: 6.1 (201, 2)

Three-Point Field-Goal Percentage: 35.5 (150, 1)

Free-Throw Percentage: 64.3 (296, 7)

Rebound Margin: 5.7 (23, 1)

Assists Per Game: 14.8 (87, 1)

Turnovers Per Game: 13.4 (94, 1)

- More 2008 NIT Coverage & Team Capsules

- More 2008 NCAA Tournament Coverage

- All 2008 Tournament Capsules

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SWAC Conference Preview

CHN — Fri, 03 Nov 2006 09:54:45 -0800

Conference Previews | Top 144 | 06-07 Preview Home

SWAC Preview

Conference Rank: 31st

Conference Page

All-Conference

Player of the Year - Trey Johnson, Jackson St, G

Delvin Thompson, Alcorn St, G

Michael Ford, Alabama A&M, G/F

William Byrd, UAPB, F

Christopher Moore, Texas Southern, F

Nat'l	Team (Click for Preview)	Conf	Tourney
139	Alabama State	1	NCAA
177	Jackson State	2
216	Alcorn State	3
258	Miss Valley St	4
260	Alabama A&M	5
295	Texas Southern	6
307	Grambling State	7
314	Southern	8
324	Prairie View A&M	9
333	Ark Pine Bluff	10

2006-07 Preview: Team's #131-144

Joel Welser — Mon, 02 Oct 2006 14:02:05 -0700

Capsules of teams ranked 131st to 144th in CHN's 144 Teams in 144 Days college preview.