Alabama men’s basketball put its multi-faceted roster on display in Birmingham against Illinois.
The roster that has a variety of players, and ways, to beat you.
On Wednesday night, Alabama showed the one that can score in bunches, even without Mark Sears contributing.
Sears scored zero points, and yet the No. 8 Crimson Tide cruised offensively against No. 25 Illinois. Everyone from Aden Holloway and Labaron Philon to Grant Nelson and even Aiden Sherrell stepped up. It was all needed, considering Illinois certainly didn’t let the Crimson Tide run away with it.
But Alabama pushed through and the Crimson Tide beat Illinois 100-87 on Wednesday in the CM Newton Classic at Legacy Arena.
Here are three takeaways from the nonconference game.
3-pointers return early and jump start Alabama
After a rough night from beyond the arc against Purdue, the Crimson Tide (4-1) sstarted the Illinois game in a much different way.
Alabama missed its opening shot on the first possession, but then the Crimson Tide heated up.
Alabama hit the next four shots, all 3-pointers, to grab a fast 12-9 lead. Grant Nelson hit three of those in a row.
The Crimson Tide started 5-for-6 from deep, which served as the catalyst to Alabama jumping out to a big lead.
The 3-pointers slowed down, as the Crimson Tide only hit three more the rest of the half. But that spark ignited the Alabama offense that scored 52 points and averaged 1.368 points per possession in the first half.
Mark Sears a non-factor, but other guards step up
Alabama’s preseason All-America selection had his lowest scoring output ever with the Crimson Tide.
His previous low was two points against Tennessee back during the 2022-23 season. Sears played 21 minutes and scored zero points while shooting 0 for 5 and 0 for 4 from deep.
Sears also didn’t have his best game against Purdue, shooting 33.3% and 16.7% from deep to go with four turnovers. But he did score 15 points.
Sears didn’t have as many turnovers against Illinois (only two), but he also didn’t have the points.
No worries, said Labaron Philon, Aden Holloway and Latrell Wrightsell Jr. All three scored in double figures and provided problems all day for Illinois.
Philon scored 16, Wrightsell scored 16 and Holloway scored 18. Holloway, the former Auburn guard, hit 3 of 4 from deep. Philon had nine assists, making him one assist away from a double-double.
Alabama is at its best when Sears is, but the Crimson Tide proved it can cruise even when Sears is a non-factor.
A Grant Nelson game
It wasn’t quite the dominance Nelson had against UNC in the Sweet 16 last spring, but Nelson shined nonetheless.
It started early. He hit the three triples on three consecutive possessions. He didn’t maintain that pace hitting triples, but Nelson still did plenty of damage. He finished with 23 points, eight rebounds, four blocks and one steal.
Nelson was a difference maker on a night Alabama needed every one it could get.
The Las Vegas Raiders added a former Alabama prep standout and Alabama State defensive back Keenan Isaac to their roster on Wednesday, when they signed Keenan Isaac for their practice squad.
The cornerback was available after being waived by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Nov. 12.
Isaac played in two games for the Bucs as an undrafted rookie in 2023 and played in five games for Tampa Bay this season. All of Isaac’s regular-season experience with the Buccaneers came on special teams.
A football and basketball standout at Midfield High School, Isaac became a starter in the Alabama State secondary as a freshman.
This season, Tampa Bay cut Isaac when it reduced its preseason roster to the regular-season limit on Aug. 27. He landed on the Carolina Panthers as a waiver claim the next day. But on the eve of their season-opener, the Panthers waived the cornerback, and on Sept. 10, the Bucs re-signed him for their active roster. Tampa Bay then waived Isaac on Sept. 20, signed him for the practice squad on Sept. 24 and promoted him to the active roster on Oct. 15 before waiving him again last week.
Practice-squad players do everything that players on the active roster do except play in games. However, each NFL team can elevate two practice-squad players to active status for each game.
Another former Alabama high school standout will be eligible to play on Sunday after being activated from injured reserve on Wednesday.
The Detroit Lions restored defensive tackle Brodric Martin to their 53-player active roster. He had spent the first 11 weeks of the season on injured reserve because of a preseason knee injury.
Martin returned to practice on Oct. 30, and Wednesday was the final day for the Lions to put him on the active roster. Otherwise, Martin would have remained on injured reserve for the rest of the season.
A defensive end and tight end at Northridge High School in Tuscaloosa who also played basketball and threw the shot for the Jaguars’ track team, Martin started his college football career in 2017 with a redshirt season at North Alabama. Over the next three seasons at UNA, Martin started every game before transferring to Western Kentucky for two seasons.
Detroit traded the 122nd, 139th and 168th selections in the 2023 NFL Draft to the Arizona Cardinals to select Martin with the 96th pick.
Martin played in three games as a rookie for Detroit.
The Lions play the Indianapolis Colts at noon CST Sunday at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.
The Raiders play the Denver Broncos at 3:05 p.m. Sunday at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.
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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.
Central Phenix-City lived up to its billing as the top-ranked girls’ flag football team in Alabama — and in the nation — as the Red Devils routed previously unbeaten Alma Bryant 34-0 in the Class 6A-7A girls’ flag football team quarterfinals at Hurricane Stadium on Wednesday night.
Gerritt Griggs was virtually unstoppable for Central (17-0) as she completed 10 of 14 passes for 102 yards, three touchdowns, and an interception. All three touchdown passes were to Mariah Harrison, who finished the night with four receptions for 60 yards.
A Mobile County man accused of sexually abusing a woman and forcing her to marry him is no longer facing a kidnapping charge, according to court records.
Mobile County Circuit Court Judge Spiro Cheriogotis on Wednesday denied prosecutors’ motion to change the kidnapping charge against Roy Clowder to unlawful imprisonment, records showed.
Clowder, 38, of Coden, still faces sexual abuse and robbery charges in connection with the Oct. 11 incident.
Clowder allegedly encountered the victim at a convenience store on Dauphin Island Parkway.
He allegedly asked the woman if she could give him a ride home and on the way to the car he allegedly brandished a gun, the Mobile County Sheriff’s Office said.
Clowder allegedly took control of the vehicle by holding the victim at gunpoint and forced her to get into the passenger seat.
Clowder then proceeded to drive the car to a church where he made the woman “marry” him on the steps outside, officials said.
“Clowder drove the victim’s car to several locations around DIP with victim inside,” MCSO said in a statement. “Clowder even went to a local church and forced the victim to participate in a ‘mock’ wedding on the steps outside of the church.”
After her family called the police, officers called her phone. Clowder allegedly answered and then abandoned the vehicle.
The USFL MVP for the 2023 season as the Birmingham Stallions quarterback, Alex McGough has joined the Green Bay Packers as a wide receiver.
The NFL team announced on Wednesday that McGough had joined the team’s practice squad.
McGough spent the 2023 NFL season on Green Bay’s practice squad as a quarterback. In 2024, the Packers placed McGough on injured reserve on July 20 and waived him on July 30. That came after coach Matt LaFleur’s announcement on May 5 that Green Bay was converting McGough into a wide receiver.
When the 2023 USFL season began, McGough was not the Stallions’ starting quarterback. McGough moved into the lineup when Birmingham quarterback J’Mar Smith dislocated a finger in the second quarter of the Stallions’ season-opening game on April 15.
Birmingham won that game 27-10 over the New Jersey Generals and went on to post the USFL’s best regular-season mark in 2023 at 8-2 with McGough at quarterback. McGough led the USFL in touchdown passes, TD responsibility and passing-efficiency rating at 108.3 while finishing sixth in rushing yards.
On July 1, 2023, McGough threw four touchdown passes as the Stallions beat the Pittsburgh Maulers 28-12 to win the USFL Championship Game for the second consecutive season. McGough completed 16-of-23 passes for 243 yards with four touchdowns and no interceptions and ran for 64 yards on nine carries.
On July 3, 2022, the Stallions defeated the Philadelphia Stars 33-30 to cap the USFL’s inaugural season. With Smith riding an exercise bike on the sideline because of a leg problem, McGough capped an eight-play, 64-yard drive with an 8-yard touchdown pass to Vic Bolden Jr. with 3:09 to play to put the Stallions in front. On the Stars’ first snap after falling behind 26-23, Stallions linebacker Scooby Wright intercepted a pass and ran 46 yards for a touchdown with 2:53 to play.
FOR MORE OF AL.COM’S COVERAGE OF THE NFL, GO TO OUR NFL PAGE
Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.
America’s support for Ukraine boils down to the eastern European country’s lucrative mineral deposits, Alabama’s senior senator claimed Wednesday.
“It’s all about the minerals over there,” Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., said during an appearance on Steve Bannon’s “War Room” podcast. “About $11 trillion worth of minerals.”
Ukraine has some of the world’s largest reserves of titanium and iron ore along with massive lithium and coal deposits, the Washington Post reported.
Tuberville made the claim when Bannon asked if there should be investigations into “this criminal conspiracy, particularly in things even like Ukraine …,” referring to President Biden’s term in office.
Tuberville said that after the Biden announced its intention to forgive a $5 billion loan to Ukraine as the country defends itself from a Russian invasion, “some of the senators said, ‘we’ll make that back in the minerals.’”
“They’re sitting on $10 trillion to $12 trillion of critical minerals in Ukraine. They could be the richest country in all of Europe. I don’t want to give that money and those assets to [Russian President Vladimir] Putin to share with China,” he said.
Tuberville has been critical of support for Ukraine.
Earlier this year, Tuberville voted against a $95.3 billion aid package to Ukraine and Taiwan.
“We’re $35 trillion in debt with NOTHING to show for it. There’s an invasion at our southern border. Our roads and bridges are falling apart. Our schools systems are getting worse by the day. Our military can’t recruit,” Tuberville posted on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, shortly after the February vote. “And the US Senate just prioritized Ukrainian pensions over Americans.”
Members of the Baldwin County Planning and Zoning Commission during their March 7, 2024 meeting. The commission on Thursday approved Phase II of Savannah Estates, a 121-lot subdivision outside of Daphne. Many of the homes on the subdivision will be built over a reclaimed dirt pit. (Photo by Margaret Kates | [email protected])Margaret Kates
A slew of new rules proposed for Baldwin County’s Subdivision Regulations will make housing in the county, one of the fastest growing in the state, more expensive, members of the county’s development community say.
Alabama football has another must-win game on Saturday, when it travels to Norman to face Oklahoma. The Crimson Tide will be expected to prevail against the Sooners, who have only won one SEC game, but a slip-up would likely cost UA a chance at a College Football Playoff spot.
On Wednesday ahead of the game, Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer is scheduled to make his weekly appearance on the “Hey Coach” radio show, on the Crimson Tide Sports Network. He’ll be speaking live from Baumhower’s Victory Grille in Tuscaloosa.
Tim Keenan will be the player guest on Wednesday’s show.
DeBoer’s appearance is scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m. CT. Follow along here for live updates once he takes to the airwaves.
— DeBoer notes that the season has gone by fast. Says it was nice to get some of Alabama’s non-starters in during Saturday’s game against Mercer.
— Mentions Alabama’s one drive where it fell short of scoring against Mercer, but praises the offense and defense for doing their jobs against Mercer.
— Host Chris Stewart asks about Alabama visiting an unfamiliar venue. DeBoer says he shows a picture of the stadium during his Tuesday meeting. Notes that there’s not much room behind the bench.
— Stewart mentions that the weather could be cooler for Saturday’s game. DeBoer says it will be excellent football weather for those playing in the game.
— DeBoer praises Oklahoma head coach Brent Venables. Says the Sooners play hard, and find ways to win when they take care of the ball offensively.
— The first caller question comes from Peewee in Grand Bay, as is tradition. He asks about young offensive linemen who stuck out in the Mercer game. DeBoer says the group is doing well developing. Says Alabama is confident in its young offensive linemen if they have to play.
— Stewart asks DeBoer about Geno VanDeMark’s play. DeBoer says VanDeMark was excited about the Alabama offensive line’s work ethic when he first arrived from Michigan State.
— Caller asks about defensive linemen Tim Keenan, Tim Smith and Jah-Marien Latham. DeBoer says the group is “rock solid” and a large part of UA’s defensive success has been that group controlling its area on the field. Says they’ve grown as players and people throughout the season.
— DeBoer is asked about his coaching mentors. Says he learns from people across the industry, including competitors and people on his own staff. Specifically mentions the head coaches he worked for as an assistant.
— Stewart asks what the keys to victory are for the Oklahoma game. DeBoer first mentions creating turnovers, and Alabama playing its style of football throughout the game.
— DeBoer says Alabama has done a good job scoring touchdowns in the red zone lately. Says that’s an important thing to do well, notes that Graham Nicholson hasn’t taken many field goals this season.
— After Keenan joins the show, DeBoer is asked about DL coach Freddie Roach. DeBoer says that Roach does an excellent job, and his passion for the program made him a no-brainer to keep around.
— DeBoer says Keenan is a leader in every possible way. Says Keenan is consistent in giving his best every day. He says Keenan is a leader when it comes to community service, and impacting the community outside of the football program.
Scott Bannon, director of the Marine Resources Division of the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, speaks at a meeting on possible changes to saltwater fishing rules.Lawrence Specker | [email protected]
The first of a series of public meetings on possible changes to saltwater fishing regulations showed that officials are considering changes that could affect how Alabama anglers go after shark, flounder and red snapper, among other species.
Most of the possible changes could be considered fine-tuning. But state officials also are looking at the possibility of setting limits on common snook, a species that has begun to establish a presence in Alabama as average water temperatures have risen. They’re also looking at possible limits on skates and rays to protect them from wasteful fishing by bowhunters.
Scott Bannon, director of the Marine Resources Division of the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (ADCNR), along with other Marine Resources personnel, held a session Tuesday night at Spanish Fort Community Center. Bannon said the division is weighing various concerns and wants public input on responses – which, in some cases, include letting the status quo stand.
Marine Resources will present its findings to a Conservation Advisory Board in early 2025, Bannon said. That board could recommend changes or further study by late spring.
The species involved, the concerns and the changes under consideration:
Sheepshead
Existing limits for sheepshead were set in 2012: 10 fish per person per day, with a minimum fork length of 12 inches. Officials say they’ve seen a decline in “recreational catch per unit of effort” as well as a decline in commercial landings.
One possible change would be to increase the minimum length. While Florida shares Alabama’s 12-inch minimum, Mississippi’s is 14 inches and Texas’ is 15 inches. Louisiana does not regulate sheepshead. However, officials have reasons to think that increasing the minimum size might not improve the spawning stock biomass, a term for the total weight of fish that are mature enough to reproduce. The average length of sheepshead caught by Alabama anglers is 15.5 inches.
Another possible change would be to lower the bag limit, possibly from 10 to eight. Mississippi’s limit is 15, while Florida’s is eight and Texas’ is five. Officials think this would “allow for more fish to be released and potentially increase the overall spawning stock and reproductive output.”
Red drum/redfish
Slot limits are higher in all other Gulf Coast states, starting at 18-inch minimums. Louisiana and Florida do not allow anglers to keep any oversize fish.
The possible change under discussion is to end the allowance for oversize redfish.
Common snook
Snook puts regulators and anglers in an interesting situation. It’s not a species native to Alabama, so it isn’t regulated. However, for more than a decade now, people have been catching snook in the waters around Perdido Bay. There’s a definite upside to this: The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission describes the common snook as “one of Florida’s most popular inshore game fish because of its spectacular fighting ability and merit as table fare.”
Early on, officials thought the snook were visiting but not overwintering in Alabama waters. Now “they seem to overwinter,” said Anson. This is part of a larger trend of warm-water fish extending their habitat northward as global ocean temperatures rise. It’s called “tropicalization,” and what could be healthy for some species might be harmful for others. Anson said Alabama conservation officials have been talking to their counterparts in Florida, who’ve seen snook rising from south Florida and spreading across the Panhandle.
“Here’s the deal. There’s two ways to look at it,” said Bannon. “They’re not from here. There’s no regulation, you could catch them all, we could go ahead and be done with it. But most people that are catching them don’t want that, they want some form of protection. As much as people think we’re a ‘no’ agency, our job is to provide access to the fisheries. So, this is a new fishery, people are enjoying it, they should get to enjoy it. So to come out with no data and say ‘no,’ I don’t think really falls in line with the way we view how we do conservation.”
“They’re not a native species, so in theory we could wipe them out and it’s okay, it has no impact on the environment,” said Bannon. But there’s also the possibility that protecting the new snook fishery could help it develop into a boon for coastal fishing.
The potential action put on the table by Marine Resources is a one-fish limit with a minimum total length of 24 inches. This would be lower than Florida’s limit of one fish with a 28-inch to 33-inch total length.
The audience on hand at Tuesday’s meeting seemed to favor taking action to nurture the snook fishery, possibly even the institution of a catch-and-release protocol or a tagging program.
Tripletail
Officials say they’re picking up on concern about the tripletail population and are waiting on more data. While it’s too early to say, that data could lead them to tighten up the existing recreational and commercial limit of three fish per person per day, with a minimum total length of 18 inches. One course of action might be to impose a boat limit as well as an individual limit. “There may not be a need for anything,” said Bannon. “This is one that just comes up a lot, so we wanted to just put that out there for you guys to provide us some feedback about what you are seeing on the water.”
Skates and rays
Anson said there currently are no state or federal limits on skates and rays. But he said they’re a slow-reproducing class that is under pressure from a new source. “They have been an increasing target for bowfishing,” said Anson. “For bowfishermen, they have charters that go out at night and use lights to shoot them with bow and arrow.”
The problem, Anson said, is that in some cases hunters are targeting rays merely to collect their tails as trophies, returning the injured fish to the water with unknown mortality (rays can regrow their tails, though a ray without one is presumed to be at a disadvantage in the meantime).
“There is a role for skates and rays, they’re scavengers. They’re not crustacean killers,” said Bannon. “When we see stacks of them on shore … I’m going to use the reference to, everybody thought it was okay to ride on the train and shoot the buffalo, until they couldn’t. I don’t want to take away anybody’s business, I am very pro-business … but in order for that business to stay in business, they need those species to stay.”
Bannon said that if ray hunters are removing “35 to 70 tails per trip, that’s 35 to 70 critters that reproduce very slowly” that are dead or injured, with a potential long-term impact on the population. “I just don’t think that’s a sustainable practice,” said Bannon. “I definitely don’t think it’s good stewardship.”
Anglers present at Tuesday’s meeting spoke of the practice with some scorn, with one saying it was like “shooting a deer just to cut the horns off.”
Potential responses could be to institute a low recreational bag limit, such as two fish per person; prohibiting anglers from cutting off the tails or part of the tails; or requiring people using a gig, spear or bow and arrow to keep all the rays they catch.
Sharks
The Marine Resources Division is considering a change that would allow very limited longline commercial shark fishing in some state waters. Lines would be limited to 2400 feet of line and 50 hooks, among other constraints.
Flounder
The division is considering the possibility of increasing the commercial gillnet limit from the current 40 fish per vessel to 60 or higher. Bannon said this was aimed at providing some relief for the small and diminishing population of licensed commercial gillnet users.
Red snapper
Research suggests the “abundance is stable” when it comes to the red snapper fishery, so the changes under consideration have more to do with access than with limits.
In recent seasons the state has opened its red snapper season the Friday before Memorial Day and kept it open for four-day weekends, Friday through Monday, until the catch approached the year’s recreational quota. Graphs of the action show that snapper seasons get off to a fast start, with a lot of boats hitting the water in the first few weeks, then taper off dramatically through later summer and fall.
A change under consideration would be to open the 2025 season seven days a week through June, then switch to four-day weekends in July.
Captain and Crew
One area of discussion is not species-specific. Alabama law allows charter captains and crew to keep a daily bag limit of fish on one trip per day. Marine Resources figures seem to show that captains and crews have made relatively little use of the provision. Possible courses of action include ending the captain and crew allotment, or letting it stand.
The second meeting in the series will be held from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 21, at the Orange Beach Event Center at The Wharf, 4671 Orange Beach Parkway. The third is scheduled for 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 3, at the Tillman’s Corner Community Center, 5055 Carol Plantation Road.