With a knee injury sidelining junior guard Levi Randolph, Alabama men’s basketball coach Anthony Grant will have to adjust his lineup heading into the season. Randolph sustained the injury Oct. 4, and Grant said he is still unavailable.
Fortunately for Grant, there is depth at every position on the floor for the Crimson Tide this year.
“We’ve got a lot of guys that have a lot of versatility,” Grant said. “I think that’s one thing with our team, is we have multiple guys that can play multiple positions.”
Alabama will host West Georgia in an exhibition game at Coleman Coliseum Monday at 7 p.m. before beginning its regular season schedule against the Oklahoma Sooners Friday in Dallas, Texas.
The Crimson Tide welcomes three newcomers to its roster this season in junior college transfer Algie Key and freshmen Jimmy Taylor and Shannon Hale.
The new players benefited from the team’s 10-day trip to Europe, getting an opportunity to mesh with their new teammates. Grant said Key, Taylor and Hale have adjusted well since playing overseas this summer.
“I’ve been pleased with their progress,” he said. “I think every day those guys get better – a better feel, a better understanding [and] more comfortable with what we’re asking and what it’s going to take for those guys to have the impact that they want to have on our team.”
Alabama will also receive an extra boost with the return of center Carl Engstrom. Engstrom missed the majority of last season after having surgery to repair ACL and MCL injuries.
With new players and Engstrom in the fold, senior guard Trevor Releford said he likes what he has seen on the court.
“I’m feeling real confident; I think the team is as well,” Releford said. “We’ve had some good practices, a lot of energy at practice. The chemistry, I think, is a lot better this year.”
One reason for the intensity boost on the court is new strength and conditioning coach Lou Deneen. Deneen spent the last six years at UAB.
Releford and sophomore guard Retin Obasohan said Deneen is pushing the players so they can stay on the floor for a longer amount of time.
“He really did a great job of coming in here and just setting the tone,” Obasohan said. “He sets the expectations really high.”
The Crimson Tide is known for its pesky defense, but it struggled at times to put the ball in the hoop a season ago. Grant said the focus this season is not solely on defense, but outplaying opponents on both ends of the floor.
“The thing I always talk about with our guys is we want to put ourselves in position to win games,” Grant said. “Our guys have to play both ends, offensively and defensively. We try not to compartmentalize it.”
But Grant said his players are ready to step back onto the court tonight in Coleman and begin their trek to get back into the NCAA tournament.
“We’re at that stage now where I think our guys are ready to play some outside competition,” he said.
