Whether it be with team sports like football and basketball or individual sports like track and field, Alabama is a well-oiled machine for athlete success stories. As such, comparing the accolades of these acclaimed athletes is no small task. Here are the top ten greatest athletes to have competed for the Crimson Tide.
10) Robert Horry, men’s basketball, 1988-1992
After growing up in Andalusia, Alabama, Horry played forward for the Crimson Tide alongside future All-NBA star Latrell Sprewell.
Horry helped lead the Crimson Tide to three SEC championship wins and a Sweet 16 appearance. He still holds the record for most blocks in school history.
He was drafted to the Houston Rockets in 1992 and played in the NBA for 16 seasons, winning a staggering seven rings. In 2010, he was inducted into the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame.
9) Tua Tagovailoa, football, 2017-2019
As a beloved recent UA alum, the Hawaiian-born lefty quarterback is a legend on campus.
“Tagovailoa, trying to make up for it, fires to the end zone. Touchdown! Alabama wins!” are words from commentator Chris Fowler that are etched into Crimson Tide culture forever, as Tagovailoa’s heroics in the 2018 national championship secured Alabama’s 17th title.
Tagovailoa signed a four-year, $212.4 million contract extension with the Miami Dolphins on July 26, making him the fourth-highest-paid player in the NFL.
8) Joe Sewell, baseball, 1917-1920
No one gets a college stadium named after them for mediocrity, and the late Joe Sewell is no exception.
Playing infielder for Alabama’s baseball team from 1917-1920, Sewell led the team to four conference championship wins.
Sewell spent the majority of his professional career with the Cleveland Indians (now the Guardians). His success was much the same, as he won two World Series, in 1920 with the Indians and 1932 with the Yankees.
He has the second-lowest MLB strikeout percentage of all time at .014% and was officially inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1977.
7) Justin Thomas, men’s golf, 2011-2012
Graduating in 2011 from Saint Xavier High School in Louisville, Kentucky, top-five recruit Justin Thomas headed south to compete for the UA men’s golf team.
He experienced immediate success his freshman year, winning both the Haskin’s and Nicklaus Awards as the nation’s most outstanding collegiate golfer, along with the Phil Mickelson Award, which is given to the most outstanding freshman. He led the school to its first NCAA title in the following year, accruing nine first-place finishes in the process.
Thomas turned pro in 2013 and has since won an impressive 15 PGA tournaments, two of which were majors.
6) Kelly Krestchman, softball, 1998-2001
Before retiring as a nine-time All-Star outfielder in the National Pro Fastpitch League, Kelly Kretshman played softball at Alabama, leading all-time in doubles (65), triples (16), at-bats (842) and runs (288).
Krestchman also earned gold at the 2004 Olympics and silver at the 2008 Olympics. Following this achievement, Krestchman continued to dominate in the NPF, becoming the NPF Player of the Year three times from 2015 to 2017, and she concluded her career in 2019 with an impressive seventh Cowles Cup Championship win.
5) Don Hutson, football, 1932-1934
Dynamic wide receiver Don Hutson played for the Crimson Tide alongside then-player Paul “Bear” Bryant, achieving First-Team All-SEC and Consensus All-American honors for the undefeated 1934 season. During his pro tenure, Hutson was a four-time Pro Bowler and three-time NFL champion, before the Super Bowl era, and was awarded All-NFL team honors on nine separate occasions.
4) Derrick Henry, football, 2013-2015
Clocking a 4.54 40-yard dash time at the 2016 NFL Combine, the 6 ‘3, 247-pound Alabama alum is a nightmare to tackle in the open field. After shattering Florida high school records for career yards, yards in a season, yards in a game and rushing touchdowns as a power-back, “King Henry” won the Heisman- that historically favors quarterbacks- at Alabama in 2015, an award that historically favors quarterbacks. He would go on to win the national championship that same year, and later secure the 2020 Offensive Player of the Year in the NFL for the Tennessee Titans. He is one of only eight pro running backs who’ve put up a 2,000-yard season, and he looks to continue his dominance as a Baltimore Raven in 2024.
3) John Hannah, football, 1970-1972
Crowned by Sports Illustrated as the “best offensive lineman of all time” in 1981, Hannah’s resume checks out as an Alabama legend. He was named an All-American twice at Alabama (1971-1972) and later received seven first-team All-Pro selections (1976, 1978-1981, 1983, 1985) and nine Pro Bowl selections (1976, 1978-1985) in the NFL. In 1991, he was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame and in 1999 the College Football Hall of Fame.
2) Derrick Thomas, football, 1985-1988
With 68 tackles for a loss and 52 sacks at Alabama, Thomas was a human battering ram, winning the Butkus Award and unanimous All-American honors in the 1988 season.
The linebacker was drafted fourth-overall by the Kansas City Chiefs in 1989 and amassed nine Pro Bowl selections in his 11-year career.
Thomas died on Feb. 8, 2000 due to a polmanary hemorage sustained after a car accident. His legacy, however, was immortalized with his Pro Football Hall of Fame induction in 2009 and College Football Hall of Fame induction in 2014.
1) Lillie Leatherwood, track and field, 1984-1987
As a Tuscaloosa native, Leatherwood dominated the 400m at Alabama and was awarded All-American honors on 10 separate occasions between 1984 and 1987.
She was NCAA champion three times over and eight-time SEC event champion, and she became The University of Alabama’s first female Olympic gold medalist at the 1984 Games.
