No, Alabama football will always be the ribs, but, perhaps for the first time ever, there’s a real genuine belief that Alabama basketball can be ribs, too. For one thing important Alabama people like Mal Moore, Dave Hart, Wendell Hudson and C.M. Newton feel like Alabama finally has a guy who can make Alabama basketball a power on the national level.
Second, that guy, Anthony Grant, feels the same way.
The 42-year-old Grant was formally introduced as Alabama’s new basketball coach during a Sunday night press conference at a packed Naylor Stone Media Room. It may have been the largest in-state media turnout in the history of Alabama’s basketball program. Other Alabama coaches were there, too – Hudson representing women’s basketball, Sarah Patterson representing gymnastics and Judy Green representing volleyball. Also present were 10 members of the Board of Trustees, including Paul Bryant, Jr.
Everyone wanted to know what Grant would say about his new job and why he took it.
His answer? In Dreamland vernacular, he sees some slaw, and he wants to make it barbecue.
“When I talked to my son about the job, I explained to him the opportunities Alabama represented,” Grant said. “It’s an opportunity to accomplish something here that’s never been accomplished before. I want to blaze a new trail.”
It should be noted, too, that that ‘blazing a new trail’ idea wasn’t a feel-good pep talk Grant issued to himself when Florida’s Billy Donovan decided to remain with the Gators Friday afternoon rather than bolt for Kentucky. Many thought Grant was waiting to see what Donovan would do so he’d know whether or not to try and return to Florida where he spent 10 seasons as an assistant or go be the coach at a football school in Tuscaloosa.
Grant said Sunday night, he made up his mind Friday morning and informed Hart at 10 a.m. – several hours before Donovan issued a statement about staying at Florida. Grant wanted to come to Alabama.
“This was my first choice,” he said. “I see this as a chance to accomplish something special. You always want to be significant in life and make a difference. At Alabama, we feel we can do that.”
Sure, Alabama is a football school. The premier football school in the minds of many. And Grant knows that, and, as he pointed out, he himself loves college football and loves the tradition of Alabama football. But, in his mind, Alabama doesn’t have to be JUST a football school.
“Alabama is a basketball school,” he said. “Alabama is a gymnastics school. Alabama is a baseball school. Every sport here has a chance to compete for championships. That summarizes what this university is all about.
“My vision is the same as what Billy Donovan’s was 13 years ago. He was told when he came that Florida is a football school, not a basketball school. He proved otherwise. Look at Texas, too. And look at Oklahoma. All those schools are proof positive it can be done. When there’s a commitment from the top all the way down, you have a chance to do some special things.”
And Grant believes that commitment is present at Alabama. He saw that when Moore and Hart visited him and his wife at their home in Virginia last Sunday. For Grant, the Alabama job was all about the people. As he pointed out on more than one occasion Sunday night, when the right people are in place, the opportunities to succeed abound.
“The thing that stood out the most about them was their passion and belief in this university,” Grant said of the two men. “They have a passion for Alabama and a desire to make it the best it can be. You can’t fake that. The other thing that stood out about that meeting in my home was the faith and trust they exhibited in me. They believed I was the guy to head this program, and that I was the right fit.”
In describing the full timeline of how the entire process unfolded, the process of him becoming Alabama’s head basketball coach, Grant said it started last Saturday, March 21, when Alabama asked Virginia Commonwealth officials for permission to speak with him. The next day was when Moore and Hart visited the Grants in Virginia.
On Wednesday, Grant and his wife visited Tuscaloosa, and it was during that visit, he said, he saw what he needed to see.
“We visited with a lot of impressive people,” Grant said. “That trip to Tuscaloosa really opened our eyes to the passion people have here for this university. When we got on the plane to come home, my wife was so excited about everything she saw and the people we had met.”
Discussions between the two sides continued over the next couple of days, culminating with Grant’s decision Friday morning. It became public Friday night.
“I want to build a program that develops champions – both on and off the floor,” he said. “I want our program to be about winning and doing things that have never been done here before.”
The way Grant has won before on the hardwood has been with an up-tempo style of play, a style he plans to implement at Alabama.
“It’s a fun style to watch, but more importantly, it’s a style you can win with,” he said.
Hand-in-hand with style of play is the work put in by both coaches and players to make that style successful. Grant indicated he will work hard in both coaching and recruiting, doing whatever he can to build strong relationships with the high school coaches in the state.
“No one will work harder or be more dedicated to the task at hand than I will be,” he said. “I want to put a product on the floor Alabama fans will be proud of.”
He plans on making the players, whom he talked to just prior to Sunday’s press conference, work hard, too. Of course, getting them simply to talk may be the first priority.
“They don’t say a whole lot,” Grant said. “They’re quiet guys, but I do sense a level of excitement in them. I think they’re in ‘proceed with caution’ mode right now because they’re a little unsure of what to expect. I think they know it’s going to take a lot of hard work on their part, but once they become acclimated to what we’re trying to do here, I think it’s going to be a lot of fun for these guys.”
As far as the current coaching staff, Grant said he will meet with each one individually this week before making any decisions on whether or not to retain any of Mark Gottfried’s former staff. He did say Alabama’s strong finish to the season spoke volumes about the character of the Alabama coaches in being able to keep the team together during difficult circumstances.
Grant is also unsure what assistants he might bring over from Virginia Commonwealth, due in large part to the fact that one of his former assistants is up for the head coaching job there now.
Grant’s salary at Alabama is thought to be in the neighborhood of $2 million per year, but Moore said Sunday the details of the contract are still being worked out and will continue to be worked out over the next 3-4 weeks.
The important thing in Moore’s mind is that Alabama has its coach now. A coach who can turn slaw into barbecue.
“We wanted a championship-level coach,” Moore said. “It was apparent early on that Coach Grant was the right man for the job. We were seeking someone with proven winning experience as a coach, but we also wanted somebody who was a winner in life.”
