To many people, Alabama is known for its powerhouse sports and the die-hard fans. Even though women’s basketball hasn’t produced a winning season in years, Alabama has produced a number of seasoned players as well as recruited some players who should help boost the team to a long-sought-after winning season.
Current rankings list the Crimson Tide as No. 13 in the SEC, just above Ole Miss. After facing fierce competitors such as Kentucky, Tennessee and Georgia, Alabama isn’t at the place it needs to be in order to win against very successful teams.
At the end of the season, the Tide will only lose two seniors to graduation, which means that next year’s team will be more prepared and capable of starting out the season better than before. Graduating seniors are Jessica Merritt and Meghan Perkins.
Of the two that are leaving, both have started at least once if not more this season. Merritt only started in non-conference games, where as Perkins has started for all conference games.
Unlike most SEC schools, Alabama is able to keep most of its best players, at least until next year. Three of the top players are all current juniors, which can help lead the team to a better next season. Shafontaye Meyers and Jasmine Robinson will return for their senior years and Daisha Simmons will return for her junior year.
Simmons is the top player for Alabama, shooting an average of 12.4 points per game. Meyers follows closely behind averaging 11.6 ppg. Robinson averages 9.9 ppg.
The rest of the team returning is also getting the practice and play time they need to help turn the team around. Freshman Nikki Hegstetter has started the past four games, making her debut against Arkansas two weeks ago. By letting younger players start, coach Wendell Hudson is preparing the team for the future seasons.
Contrary to most sports, Hudson knows he has to season his players early on. Though he has recruited four valuable players and is trying to recruit a few more, it’s important to maintain the level of commitment the current team already has.
“It really boils down to the character of the young ladies,” Hudson said. “It really depends if the character of the young ladies will show up. What has shown up is that we have had some really good character people, because when you go through a season like this, it becomes a headache because you want to win one, but we’re working on ourselves.”
Though this year didn’t turn out to be the season many anticipated, the upcoming season that has overwhelming size and talent coming in should be promising to the fans who have faced many losing seasons.
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