Why Sip Loves Bama Basketball So Much

[rizolltizide]

Good story. I started following Bama basketball in the early 80s. I think it was around the time that CM left and Wimp took over. We had some pretty good teams then with Eddie Phillips, Buck Johnson, Mike Davis. I think Bobbie Lee Hurt, Terry Coner, etc. came in during that time, and then we picked up Derrick McKey. All of those guys were great and everything built up to the 1985-86 season. I really felt like we had a shot at the NC that year but ran into a hot Providence team and got knocked out in the sweet 16. We lost Derrick McKey a year early due to an issue with an agent so in 1986-87 we struggled. I was a freshman at Bama in 1988 so I was there when we got back on track. We had Ansley, Askins, Horry, Cheatum, etc. and were really good that year. If I remember correctly Coleman sold out for every SEC game and perhaps one or two of the non-conference games. We hit our stride late in the year and would have made some noise in the NCAA had we not been the victims of horrible (biased?) officiating in the first round against South Alabama. The next year we had another very good team but we were put out of the tournament by Loyola Marymount in a very strange game. It seemed like to me that was Wimp's last really good team. I felt like he lost his edge after that season. We still won a lot of games and were competitive but several other SEC teams passed us in the early 90s. Rick Pitino became the UK head coach and turned them around almost overnight. Arkansas came into the SEC and well. Perhaps some others that I have forgotten about but we seem to slip a bit.

That was my era in Tuscaloosa, and why I just can't understnad the apathy that exists sometimes. Man, we had some talent on those teams and it was a blast to go to Coleman and watch them.

 

[day-day]

You forgot Eric Richardson, who played in Whatley's shadow, but was a terrific player who took over when 'Mo left after his sophomore season for the NBA. Then came TC. Terry was Mr. Basketball, but when I saw him practicing as a true freshman, he couldn't get the ball across half court. Boy did he improve by his sophomore year.

Waites tore up his knee in a dunking contest at the Georgia all-star game. That desperate side of Wimp Sanderson chose to play him in '88 when he had a brace on his leg the size of Town Creek. Gary never got back his first step, but he became a very fine shooter.

Was Enis Whatley nicknamed 'Mo?

 

[Alasippi]

Was Enis Whatley nicknamed 'Mo?

Not that I recall...lol..

I think you're thinking about "Mo" Williams

 

[TheAccountant]

Question for some of you more "seasoned" fans - were most of these great players in the 70s and 80s in state or out of state kids? I started following Bama ball in the late 80s/early 90s. Horry was the guy I always impersonated in the driveway.

 

[imauafan]

Was Enis Whatley nicknamed 'Mo?

I think it was Enimo or somthing like that.

 

[imauafan]

Question for some of you more "seasoned" fans - were most of these great players in the 70s and 80s in state or out of state kids? I started following Bama ball in the late 80s/early 90s. Horry was the guy I always impersonated in the driveway.

Buck Johnson, Bobby Lee Hurt, Mike Davis, Ennis Whatley, Jim Farmer, Terry Coner, Keith Askins, Michael Ansley and Robert Horry were all in-state kids.

 

[CrimsonEyeshade]

It was Enimo. It was shortened for a time while he was with the Bulls. He, in a word, was extraordinary.

 

[CrimsonEyeshade]

Buck Johnson, Bobby Lee Hurt, Mike Davis, Ennis Whatley, Jim Farmer, Terry Coner, Keith Askins, Michael Ansley and Robert Horry were all in-state kids.

I go back a little farther. Leon Douglas, T.R. Dunn, Glenn Garrett, Paul Ellis, Ray Odoms, Charles Cleveland, Mule King, Rickey Brown, Anthony Murray, Robert Scott, Wendell Hudson, Boonie Russell and on and on and on.

Once CPB allowed C.M. to recruit, he kicked down the doors. We were the first team in the Deep South to start five black kids, and all of them were from Alabama.

You think that wasn't fun: pulling for the kids in the Alabama jerseys when all of them were in-state kids? Still gives me chills thinking about what that meant and how good it felt.

 

[TheAccountant]

Thanks for the info guys. It would be great to see Bama start keeping most of the talent home again.

 

[Alasippi]

Thanks for the info guys. It would be great to see Bama start keeping most of the talent home again.

The big difference between now and then is that Birmingham used to be an absolute hot bed for basketball talent.

T.R, Mule, Amp, Keith McCord, Ray Odoms, Wendell Hudson, Robert Scott...list goes on...all played high school ball in Birmingham.

Now, there's one, maybe two outstanding players every now and then but it's more rare than common.

The "One the got away" though was Allen Murphey from Parker in the early 70's. He signed with Louisville because he didn't think Bama would start five black players.
You put him on that team with Charles Cleveland etc. and nobody could have touched us because that young man was an INCREDIBLE basketball player.
Many, who saw him play(like me) would possibly argue that he's the best high school player in Bama high school history.

 

[redspider]

My Father still says that Charles Cleveland & Ozzie
Newsome were the 2 best highschool athletes. The
state has ever produced. Hartselle then known as
Morgan Co. High with Charles "Boonie" Russell defeated
Lieghton(Colbert Co.) with 6'-9" junior center Leon Douglas
for the 3-A state championship in '70-'71. Great mems right Dad.

 

[ALA2262]

Bama fans do not realize how special those 3 consecutive SEC basketball titles are. SEC basketball is ruled by Kentucky just as SEC football is ruled by Bama. NEVER EVER will a Kentucky fan be able to walk in their football stadium and look up and see 3 consecutive SEC football title banners flying. Hell, they probably will never ever see 3 total.

 

[ALA2262]

The big difference between now and then is that Birmingham used to be an absolute hot bed for basketball talent.

T.R, Mule, Amp, Keith McCord, Ray Odoms, Wendell Hudson, Robert Scott...list goes on...all played high school ball in Birmingham.

Now, there's one, maybe two outstanding players every now and then but it's more rare than common.

The "One the got away" though was Allen Murphey from Parker in the early 70's. He signed with Louisville because he didn't think Bama would start five black players.
You put him on that team with Charles Cleveland etc. and nobody could have touched us because that young man was an INCREDIBLE basketball player.
Many, who saw him play(like me) would possibly argue that he's the best high school player in Bama high school history.

The one I used to lament, and who would have added to the front end of that string in '72 and '73, was John Drew from Beatrice. Drafted by the Hawks in '74 out of Gardner-Webb he spent 11 years with the Hawks and Jazz. Two time NBA All-Star with over 15K career points.

I say used to lament because I stopped when my brother explained to me that although Bama's entrance requirements were not terribly demanding, you did have to be able to write your name.

 

[imauafan]

Bama fans do not realize how special those 3 consecutive SEC basketball titles are. SEC basketball is ruled by Kentucky just as SEC football is ruled by Bama. NEVER EVER will a Kentucky fan be able to walk in their football stadium and look up and see 3 consecutive SEC football title banners flying. Hell, they probably will never ever see 3 total.

I understand what you are saying but I would not compare Alabama basketball to Kentucky football. Auburn's basketball program would be a better comparison.

 

[ALA2262]

I understand what you are saying but I would not compare Alabama basketball to Kentucky football. Auburn's basketball program would be a better comparison.

Then you don't understand what I am saying because I am not comparing Alabama basketball to Kentucky football. I am saying that no other SEC football team, including Kentucky, should ever win 3 consecutive titles in a conference ruled by Bama. I am saying that no other SEC basketball team, including Alabama, should ever win 3 consecutive titles in a conference ruled by Kentucky. But Bama did just that in '74, '75, and '76. Very, very special. Only one other school,other than Kentucky, has done that in the history of the SEC. '61,'62, and '63 MSU. Only one other school, other than Alabama, has done that in the history of SEC football. '93, '94, '95, and '96 UF.

 

[CrimsonEyeshade]

Then you don't understand what I am saying because I am not comparing Alabama basketball to Kentucky football. I am saying that no other SEC football team, including Kentucky, should ever win 3 consecutive titles in a conference ruled by Bama. I am saying that no other SEC basketball team, including Alabama, should ever win 3 consecutive titles in a conference ruled by Kentucky. But Bama did just that in '74, '75, and '76. Very, very special. Only one other school,other than Kentucky, has done that in the history of the SEC. '61,'62, and '63 MSU. Only one other school, other than Alabama, has done that in the history of SEC football. '93, '94, '95, and '96 UF.

As great as that run was, the titles are a tad misleading. We tied Vanderbilt in '74 but lost to them twice in the regular season (both games were nightmares, particularly ours at home). They represented the conference in the NCAA regional -- played in Tuscaloosa that year -- and because of a stupid NCAA regulation about a regional host school not being allowed to play anywhere else, we couldn't even go to the NIT.

We tied Kentucky in '75, but lost to them twice and blew a chance to win the conference title outright by losing bitterly at Auburn to close out the season.

We won our title outright in '76, but it took a miraculous putback at the buzzer by T.R. to get us into OT at Vanderbilt . . . and which point Mule King took over.

We should have won the title in '73, but we lost to Kentucky at home in the single greatest game I've ever seen in Coleman and then got jobbed terribly on the road at Knoxville late in the year. The next year we went into Lexington and beat Kentucky bloody -- the worst loss they ever experienced in their old gym.

ALA2262 is right. Those years were incredibly special. Kentucky was at full strength. Tennessee was always really good. The other schools like LSU, Auburn and Ole Miss began following our lead, moving away from taking the rejects from Ohio and Indiana and Kentucky and keeping their black players at home for the first time . . . and yet if we could have made 70 percent of our free throws, I'm not sure we would have ever lost a game.

 

[CrimsonDragon]

This may be the greatest thread in the history of Tidefans! Almost every Bama fan knows the history of the football program like the back of their hand. Few know half of what has been posted in this thread. Thanks to everyone who has contributed!

 

[CrimsonEyeshade]

The big difference between now and then is that Birmingham used to be an absolute hot bed for basketball talent.

T.R, Mule, Amp, Keith McCord, Ray Odoms, Wendell Hudson, Robert Scott...list goes on...all played high school ball in Birmingham.

Now, there's one, maybe two outstanding players every now and then but it's more rare than common.

The "One the got away" though was Allen Murphey from Parker in the early 70's. He signed with Louisville because he didn't think Bama would start five black players.
You put him on that team with Charles Cleveland etc. and nobody could have touched us because that young man was an INCREDIBLE basketball player.
Many, who saw him play(like me) would possibly argue that he's the best high school player in Bama high school history.

Played against Allen twice, once in the state tournament in Tuscaloosa. He was by far the most mature high school basketball player I had ever seen -- in the sense that though unbelievably talented, he never forced matters. Play a zone against Parker and he would get his 20 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists by spreading the ball around. Try to man up, and he would blow by anyone. Unguardable.

Committed early to Louisville, the same year of Rupp's last great all-white recruiting class at Kentucky (Jimmy Dan Conner, Mike Flynn, Bob Guyette and Kevin Grevey). Denny Crum set the bluegrass on fire when he said he wouldn't trade Murphy or Junior Bridgeman for all four of the Kentucky kids.

The country got a sense of what he was talking about in the 1975 national semi-final when Murphy scored 30-plus against eventual national champ UCLA, which beat Conner, Grevey et al in the final.

In my opinion, Charles Cleveland was flashier. But Murphy was the better-all-around player, and certainly one of the best the state has ever produced.

Punch here.

 

[imauafan]

One great memory that I have of Bama basketball occurred in the 1985-86 season. I believe we were playing UT and had pretty much dominated them the entire game. I think it was in the second half when Keith Askins, who was a true freshman, came in and scored either 16 or 17 points in a row. After about 10 points in a row the announcer (Paul Kennedy?) was going crazy. I thought he was going to have a heart attack.

 

[Alasippi]

Played against Allen twice, once in the state tournament in Tuscaloosa. He was by far the most mature high school basketball player I had ever seen -- in the sense that though unbelievably talented, he never forced matters. Play a zone against Parker and he would get his 20 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists by spreading the ball around. Try to man up, and he would blow by anyone. Unguardable.

Committed early to Louisville, the same year of Rupp's last great all-white recruiting class at Kentucky (Jimmy Dan Conner, Mike Flynn, Bob Guyette and Kevin Grevey). Denny Crum set the bluegrass on fire when he said he wouldn't trade Murphy or Junior Bridgeman for all four of the Kentucky kids.

The country got a sense of what he was talking about in the 1975 national semi-final when Murphy scored 30-plus against eventual national champ UCLA, which beat Conner, Grevey et al in the final.

In my opinion, Charles Cleveland was flashier. But Murphy was the better-all-around player, and certainly one of the best the state has ever produced.

Punch here.

Great post! Great great post!

I think, if I recall correctly that Parker had a guard named Perry Campbell, a lefty, who could jump out of the gym and can jumpers from 30 feet.

Murphey just sat back, got every single rebound, every put back, every everything....lol

You're right, he looked like a 28 year old playing basketball against high school kids. He and T.R. were very much alike in terms of style.

But man, can you imagine what we could have been if he had stayed at home and played for us?

sip