Alabama A&M

Daily Conference Poll: Who Will Win the SWAC?

Shawn Siegel — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 16:25:49 -0500

SWAC Basketball Preview: 08-09

Shawn Siegel — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 21:10:05 -0500

Conference Rank: 31st

All-SWAC Team
Pos.	Player	Team	Yr.

G	Andrew Hayles	Alabama St	Sr
G	Trant Simpson	Alabama A&M	Sr
G	Darrion Griffin	Jackson St	Sr
G	Chris Davis	Southern	Sr
F	Grant Maxey	Jackson St	Jr

SWAC Standings
Nat'l	Team	League	Tourney

143	Alabama A&M	SWAC	1	NCAA
202	Jackson State	SWAC	2
234	Alabama State	SWAC	3
273	Miss Valley St	SWAC	4
297	Southern	SWAC	5
305	Texas Southern	SWAC	6
321	Prairie View A&M	SWAC	7
325	Grambling State	SWAC	8
336	Alcorn State	SWAC	9
338	Ark Pine Bluff	SWAC	10

*Click on links for full Top 144 team preview

Poll: Who Do You Think Will Win the SWAC?

State of '08: Alabama

Shawn Siegel — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 14:26:05 -0400

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

2008-09 Alabama A&M Basketball Preview: #143

Joel Welser — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 18:42:46 -0400

Alabama A&M Bulldogs

Overall Rank: #143

Conference Rank: #1 SWAC

2007-08: 14-15, 11-7, 3^rd

2007-08 postseason: none

If Alabama A&M could only beat Arkansas Pine Bluff, their season would have ended much differently. As it was, the Bulldogs finished third in the conference and had a first round conference tournament exit at the hands of the Golden Lions. With a whole slew of talent returning, the Bulldogs will have the best backcourt in the SWAC and that should be enough for Coach Vann Pettaway’s squad to think about a conference championship.

Who’s Out:

However, there is a huge, literally and figuratively, hole to fill in the frontcourt. The 6-11 Mickell Gladness tallied 10.3 points and 8.8 rebounds per game. Having a big guy like that really freed up space for the guards and that will be impossible to replace. As much as Gladness will be missed on the offense, his defense was his best asset. Two years ago Gladness led the nation in blocked shots and last year he was second, totaling 4.5 per contest.

Who’s In:

Any way you look at it, the frontcourt is not going to be happy without Gladness, and some of the newcomers will at least have to play a role off the bench. Shane Burrell has the most potential, but Gerald January has the experience. A junior college transfer, January can play at either forward spot and use his 6-7, 200 pound frame to clear space in the paint or drive to the rim. Wings Casey Cantey and Royce Hamilton could even play at the four in a pinch. The incoming freshmen spent their prep careers playing in the post, but at this level both should be at the small forward spot. As long as the outside shooting continues to improve, Cantey and Hamilton will flourish at their new positions. Point guard Marcus Lee, a high school teammate of Hamilton, will become a leader of the team in the coming years. For now, the pass first point guard will learn the ropes as a backup.

Who to Watch:

Who is going to replace Gladness? Nobody will replace his shotblocking ability, but somebody has to play his position. Jonathan Belt, Jonathan Inman and Kudus Ogbara are decent players, but they are all 6-5 or 6-6 and cannot clog the paint like Gladness did. At the most, they are power forwards. The biggest returning player on the roster is center Norris Arnold at 6-8. Arnold only saw action in 17 games and averaged 6.4 minutes per contest last season and he will be asked to do a lot more for his senior campaign. However, in a conference like the SWAC, it has been proven time and time again that you do not need a dominating big man, or even any truly big man, to win the championship.

Final Projection:

With Trant Simpson leading the way, the Alabama A&M backcourt is the most talented in the SWAC. Simpson led the team with 15.5 points and 3.5 assists per game as a sophomore and now, as an upperclassman, he is ready to become a leader. Evan Hilton and Desmond Jackson are the long range shooting threats and players like Jackson and LaNorris Smith have a year or two of experience with the team and are ready for a bigger role. But it might be hard to find the minutes, especially after 6-3 forward Isiah Cross came into his own late in his freshman season. If the talent on the perimeter plays as well as they could, do not be surprised if, in certain situations, the Bulldogs put a really small lineup on the court.

Projected Post-season Tournament: NCAA

Projected Starting Five:

Trant Simpson, Junior, Guard, 15.5 points per game

Evan Hilton, Senior, Guard, 12.0 points per game

Andrew Williams, Junior, Guard, 3.9 points per game

Jonathan Inman, Junior, Forward, 8.4 points per game

Norris Arnold, Senior, Center, 0.7 points per game

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