Tua Tagovailoa comes off of the bench to lead Alabama to its 17th national championship
By Matthew Speakman
Alabama trailed 13-0 heading into halftime against Georgia in the College Football Playoff National Championship. With Jalen Hurts struggling, Alabama coach Nick Saban turned to freshman quarterback Tua Tagovailoa to ignite Alabama’s offense. Tagovailoa came in and threw three touchdown passes to capture a 26-23 win over Georgia. The biggest moment came when Tagovailoa threw a 41-yard touchdown pass to freshman receiver DeVonta Smith to give Alabama its 17th national championship. Tagovailoa replaced a 26-2 starter who led Alabama to back-to-back national championship appearances. It was a bold decision by Saban that paid off.
From Ozark to Alabama: Sharp-shooting Hannah Cook leaves lasting impact on women’s basketball
By James Ogletree
Women’s basketball senior Hannah Cooks hails from the small town of Ozark, Missouri. Cook has been a contributor to the women’s basketball team since her freshman year. A three-point specialist, Cook finished as her high school’s all-time leading scorer. While at Alabama, she reached her 1,000th point during her junior year. When school is over, Cook wants to enter the sports broadcasting world. She’s been on the set of The Paul Finebaum Show and describes Finebaum as her “best friend.”
Fight like hell: Mack Brannan competes for her brother
By Ben Stansell
Alabama senior gymnast Mack Brannan wears a green bow in her hair for every meet she competes in to honor her brother, Brian Roberts. Roberts has Hepatosplenic T-cell Lymphoma. Lime green is the official color of lymphoma awareness. Brannan inspired her teammates to follow her lead, so the rest of them also opted to wear the bows. She also wears a wristband that reads “fight like hell.” Brannan is using her gymnastics platform to not only spread awareness for her brother, but anyone with lymphoma.
Brad Bohannon’s 15-year journey to reaching his dream
By Cody Estremera
Brad Bohannon had an interesting start to his coaching career. He started in corporate finance and later helped out around Oregon State. He then moved to Lexington, Kentucky for a dozen years. He worked as a volunteer coach for two years before taking over as the Recruiting Coordinator. He helped turn Kentucky around, recruiting some of the best classes in the country over that time. For the last two years, he has been working at Auburn, helping turn that program around. On June 5, 2017, he achieved his dream of being a head coach.
Demi Turner taking nothing for granted after scary injury last season
By Ehsan Kassim
Last year, Demi Turner was hit in the face off a throw by one of her teammates. The hit gave her a concussion and a facial fracture. Because of the scare, her mother drove from Huntsville, Texas to make sure her daughter was alright. She stayed for a week. In her first start after the injury, the crowd gave her a standing ovation before Alabama played its regional game against Minnesota.
