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Alabama football’s 5 most important freshmen for 2025

Alabama football has a storied history of talented freshmen making an impact during their first seasons. Julio Jones, Jalen Hurts, Tua Tagovailoa, Will Anderson and more have impressed as youngsters, not to mention Ryan Williams in 2024.

For 2025, head coach Kalen DeBoer and company have brought in a class ranked No. 3 nationally according to 247Sports’ composite rankings. Here’s a look at which of the newcomers could play a big role in the Crimson Tide’s success this coming season.

Lotzier Brooks

It will be hard for any Crimson Tide first-year receiver to recreate the freshman phenomenon that Williams was last year. However, if any of them can do it, Brooks seems like the most likely candidate.

The New Jersey native earned rave reviews throughout the spring for his speed and ability at the position. DeBoer said he’ll likely begin his career in the slot for UA.

“I would say that’s probably his starting point right there,” DeBoer said in March. “You think right away, get the ball to him and let him do his thing, but he’s really good down the field too. Has really good body control, can win on defenders down the field and not just in the first couple yards and when he’s got the ball in his hands. So he’s been really impressive.”

Dijon Lee Jr.

When looking at Alabama’s cornerbacks grouped together, Lee is an albatross. He stands 6-foot-2, prompting questions during the spring about whether he would switch to safety.

However, defensive coordinator Kane Wommack said the initial plan for Lee was to keep him around as a “long-ass corner.” He also praised how good the youngster looked upon his arrival in Tuscaloosa.

“He’s got really good feet,” Wommack said. “He’s got a maturity— he reminds me a little bit of Zabien (Brown). I don’t want to put too much pressure on him too early, but he has a demeanor that indicates that a freshman can come in and contribute. (Defensive backs coach Maurice Linguist) does such a great job with the discipline and detail of those guys at that position.”

Ivan Taylor

The son of former NFL star Ike Taylor impressed during his first public showing. He picked off quarterback Keelon Russell early during Alabama’s A-Day practice at Bryant-Denny Stadium.

Wommack said the younger Taylor needed to be more consistent, but had high hopes for his future with the Crimson Tide.

“He’s really done a nice job,” Wommack said. “Ivan, he’s got a ton of energy. He’s excited to be out there every single day. He’s got a hunger to learn and I think he’s probably one of the best open-field tacklers I’ve seen as a freshman. Being able to get people on the ground, you know, that is a very challenging, difficult skill, and certainly one that I think he’s really come in probably way above average for what you would see for a young freshman. He’s got a real knack for the ball and I’m excited to kind of build upon that.”

Keelon Russell

Following spring practice, it seems unlikely that Russell is going to win the starting quarterback job. Ty Simpson is the leader in the clubhouse, and Russell’s inexperience has been a disadvantage.

However, he was a five-star prospect, and could very well be the future of the position in Tuscaloosa. If things go poorly for Simpson (or Austin Mack), perhaps Russell could get a look on the field.

“He’s in it,” DeBoer said. “His head’s in it. He’s the same guy every single day. That’s what you love about him. Just consistency. He’s going to be a guy that you can attack a defense, and I think all our quarterbacks have that ability with their arm to get after the opponent. Just consistent is the biggest thing for him.”

Michael Carroll Jr.

Alabama should have a stout offensive line this season. Off the bat, Kadyn Proctor, Jaeden Roberts and Parker Brailsford could be All-America candidates in 2025.

Carroll could provide valuable depth for the Tide, or even move into a starting role under the right circumstances. DeBoer praised his versatility in the spring.

“Michael probably was recruited more as a guard, and he might become that someday, I don’t know, but right now he’s got that position flex,” DeBoer said. “That’s really key for us and he’s got a mindset about him.”

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Auburn and Alabama will kick off the football season as road warriors or road kill

This is an opinion column.

Does anyone remember what happened the last time Auburn opened a football season with a true road game? Not one of those made-for-TV deals at an antiseptic neutral site, but an old-school, “Whoa, Nellie!” road game in another school’s sandbox.

I do. It was 2002. A memorable trip indeed. The opponent: No. 20 USC. The venue: The historic Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

The unranked Tigers stayed in a swanky hotel overlooking a movie studio. In a strange sort of foreshadowing, head coach Tommy Tuberville got the presidential suite, complete with a grand piano. The game turned out to be a thrilling close encounter.

Eventual Heisman winner Carson Palmer threw for 300 yards and scored the winning touchdown late as USC prevailed 24-17. Auburn rebounded to go 9-4 and beat Penn State in the Capital Ole Bowl.

Does anyone remember what happened the last time Alabama started a football season with a true road game? Two years before the Auburn family traveled to the West Coast, the Crimson Tide and its RV army rolled into the venerable Rose Bowl Stadium to kick off the 2000 season against UCLA. Wouldn’t have missed it for the world.

Fresh off an SEC title run that included two wins over Steve Spurrier and Florida, Alabama was ranked No. 3 in the nation. UCLA was unranked and unimpressed. The Bruins rocked the Tide 35-24. That loss was the first pebble in an avalanche that saw Alabama tumble from No. 3 to 3-8 and dismiss head coach Mike DuBose.

The moral to the story: Don’t start a football season in California or anywhere else with an old-school, “Whoa, Nellie!” true road game in another school’s sandbox. It might be no day at the beach.

More than two decades later, both Auburn and Alabama have seen so much regime change, they’ve no doubt forgotten those painful lessons. The Tigers and Tide both will begin the upcoming season as strangers in strange lands, making their debuts as perilous as they’ve been in tandem in ages.

As if it weren’t risky enough watching a new starting quarterback take the wheel, Auburn’s Jackson Arnold and Alabama’s Ty Simpson will have to start proving themselves in decidedly hostile environments.

Arnold will take his first real snaps for the Tigers at Baylor on Friday, Aug. 29. The Bears aren’t expected to be playoff contenders, but their head coach, Dave Aranda, is a pretty sporty defensive mind. His schemes could give Hugh Freeze’s offense fits right out of the box.

Baylor won its last six regular-season games last season before losing to LSU in the Texas Bowl to finish 8-5. While Auburn has suffered through four straight losing seasons and adjusted to a coaching change, Baylor has posted winning marks twice in the last four years under Aranda.

In short, Baylor is no UMass or Alabama A&M, the gimmes Auburn opened with the last two seasons under Freeze.

The day after Auburn tests itself at Baylor, Alabama takes its show on the road to Florida State. Hard to believe the Seminoles will be as bad as they were during their 2-10 nightmare of 2024 or as good as they were the year before when 13-0 didn’t earn them a playoff bid because their quarterback got hurt.

Which team got that 2023 playoff spot that FSU swore it deserved? Alabama. Add that extra incentive to the chopping and chanting home crowd in Tallahassee, and the Alabama team that lost at Vanderbilt, at Tennessee and at Oklahoma last season has real work to do in its first assignment of Year Two under Kalen DeBoer.

The risks of playing a true road opener with a new starting quarterback against a power conference opponent are obvious. How will Auburn respond if Arnold fumbles the ball away to give Baylor a quick scoop-and-score? How will Alabama react if Simpson throws a first-quarter pick-six?

There’s no way for Freeze or DeBoer to know for sure.

The rewards of starting 1-0 with a quality victory away from home are plentiful, too. Kudos to Auburn and Alabama for giving their fan bases a reason to get excited from the jump.

The rarity of true road openers elevates the anticipation. Does anyone remember the last time Auburn and Alabama both needed suitcases to start the same season as true road warriors?

It was 1976. Auburn opened at Arizona and lost 31-19. Alabama started at Ole Miss and fell 10-7. Not the best omen, but no reason for alarm, either. Call it a cautionary tale, an ancient reminder for the Iron Bowl brothers to get their acts in gear in a hurry.

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This $3.9M Alabama estate with 2 guest houses, pickleball court and golf holes will blow your mind

If you’ve been looking for a dreamy estate with a huge lot, tons of space and over-the-top amenities, this listing has you covered: The property at 2400 Breeding Drive in Hartselle, Ala., covers 48 acres and includes several buildings.

It is listed for $3.994 million, says listing agent Jeremy Jones.

Click through the gallery above to see photos of the estate.

“This exquisite home by nationally renowned architect Jack Arnold is one of his most popular French Country designs,” Jones said. “He uses his signature timberwork, stone and soaring ceilings to make this a magnificent home – both elegant and welcoming at the same time.”

Watch a video tour here.

Listing details

Address: 2400 Breeding Drive, Hartselle, Ala.

Price: $3.994 million

Built: 2006

Size: 5 bedrooms, 6 baths, 9,605 square feet (plus outbuildings)

Lot Size: 48 acres

Agent: Jeremy Jones and Walker Jones, Parker Real Estate, 256-466-4675, 256-616-6602

“Situated on manicured estate acreage, this home offers everything,” Jones said.

The estate includes “not one but two guest houses, a pool, tennis/pickleball/basketball court, three golf holes and two stocked ponds,” he said.

The first guest house is 2,695 square feet; the second is 1,533 square feet. “Both guest houses are just as wonderful as the main home,” Jones said.

Other amenities include:

• Audio/video camera system;
• A home theater;
• Automated lighting;
• Smart thermostat;
• A barn, stable and other outbuildings.

“This Jack Arnold designed, five-star-plus masterpiece has everything,” Jones said.

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Mobile to celebrate baseball legacy next week with $11 million Hall of Fame Walk

Nearly six years have passed since the Mobile BayBears played their final game at Hank Aaron Stadium, seemingly closing the book on professional baseball in Alabama’s Port City.

But Mobile’s story with America’s pastime was never meant to end there.

Next Tuesday, the city will step back into the sports spotlight, honoring a legacy as rich as any in the sport. Fueled by an $11 million investment, Mobile will unveil the Hall of Fame Walk—a tribute not just to its past, but to its place in baseball’s pantheon.

With five homegrown Hall of Famers, the city stands proudly among the few that have shaped the very fabric of Major League Baseball. Only the largest of cities like New York and Chicago can claim as many Hall of Famers as Mobile – cities that are more than 15 times larger than the Gulf Coast city.

Thirteen states do not even have one Hall of Famer. And in Birmingham, where Major League Baseball hosted its “Tribute to the Negro Leagues” game at historic Rickwood Field last year, only one player – Willie Mays – is in the Hall of Fame.

The Hall of Fame Walk opens with a ceremonial first pitch at 1:30 p.m. at the Arthur R. Outlaw Mobile Convention Center on Water Street, celebrating what may be Alabama’s most distinctive pocket park in years.

“We’ve had ribbon cuttings and groundbreakings but nowhere have we had something like this,” Mobile Mayor Sandy Stimpson said in April when the statues arrived. “This tells the history of the individuals who brought fame to the City of Mobile.”

City officials say they are trying to iron out the details for an event that will feature former athletes and stakeholders in the park project.

The Mobile City Council approved Tuesday to spend $1,000 out of each of the seven members’ discretionary funds to help pay for the event.

The park’s highlight includes six bronze statues of the city’s homegrown Hall of Famers with five enshrined in Cooperstown, N.Y., and one enshrined at the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio.

The statues include the following:

• Hank Aaron, who played primarily for the Braves organization from 1954-1976, and was inducted into the MLB Hall of Fame in 1982.
• Willie McCovey, who played primarily for the Giants from 1959-1980 and was inducted in 1989.
• Satchel Paige, who played in the Negro Leagues and in Major League Baseball from 1927-1965. He was inducted in 1971.
• Billy Williams, who played primarily with the Cubs from 1965-1976, and was inducted in 1987.
• Ozzie Smith, who played primarily with the Cardinals from 1978-1996, and was inducted in 2002.
• Robert Brazile Jr., who was an NFL linebacker for the Houston Oilers from 1975-1984. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2018.

Each one of the statues will stand on an approximately 1-foot-tall pillar. An empty pillar will also be added for people to be included within the park and allow them to take selfies with the statues in the background.

The statues were designed and crafted by artist Brett Grill of Grand Rapids, Mich.

Most of the money for the project came from the city’s downtown tax-increment financing (TIF) district.

A TIF district in Alabama is a geographically defined area aimed at promoting economic development within its boundaries. As development occurs, the value of a property increases within the district and – as a result of rising property values – so do revenues generated by property taxes. The extra taxes are then set aside in the TIF fund to pay for projects like the Hall of Fame Plaza.

The plaza’s opening coincides with ongoing construction next door on a platform that will cater to Amtrak’s future Gulf Coast route connecting Mobile to New Orleans. That project is expected to be completed later this summer.

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The time Alabama went 72 yards to stun one of its biggest rivals, key national title run

EDITOR’S NOTE: Every day until Aug. 29, Creg Stephenson is counting down significant numbers in Alabama football history, both in the lead-up to the 2025 football season and in commemoration of the Crimson Tide’s first national championship 100 years ago. The number could be attached to a year, a uniform number or even a football-specific statistic. We hope you enjoy.

The drive didn’t exactly clinch anything for Alabama, but it did give the Crimson Tide some margin for error that it would end up needing in its quest for a second straight national championship.

Alabama moved the ball 72 yards to beat LSU 21-17 in 2012, with a 28-yard screen pass from AJ McCarron to T.J. Yeldon the capper. The drive took all of five plays — four of them completed passes — and 43 seconds of clock time, as Nick Saban’s top-ranked Crimson Tide dealt the Tigers a stunner in Baton Rouge.

“It was like clockwork,” McCarron told reporters after the game. “The whole offense just looked at each other and you could just tell in everybody’s eyes it was like, ‘We do this every Thursday (in practice), so what’s the difference here?’ ”

Alabama led 14-3 at halftime, but its first five possessions of the second half ended in four punts and a fumble. Fifth-ranked LSU, meanwhile, scored two touchdowns to take a 17-14 lead and was driving in Crimson Tide territory in the final three minutes of the fourth quarter.

The Tigers stalled out at the Alabama 28-yard line, however, and Drew Alleman came on to attempt a 45-yard field goal. He missed wide right, giving the Crimson Tide life with 1:34 to play.

McCarron had been struggling along with his team in the second half to that point, having completed just one of his last seven passes for 0 yards. But on the final drive, he was nearly perfect.

On the first play, McCarron hit Kevin Norwood for 18 yards to the Alabama 46. The two hooked up again on the next two plays, for 15 yards to the LSU 39 and then 11 yards to the LSU 28.

McCarron threw incomplete deep to Norwood on the following play (both the receiver and the defensive back fell down as the ball sailed into the end zone), stopping the clock with 51 seconds left. That gave Alabama second-and-10 from the LSU 28.

McCarron dropped straight back, and Yeldon let blitzing cornerback Jalen Mills slip past him as he drifted into the right flat. McCarron dumped the ball right over Mills’ head into the waiting arms of Yeldon, who caught it at the 33 and turned upfield with several blockers in front of him.

Yeldon, a freshman who had split time with fellow 1,000-yard rusher Eddie Lacy all season, evaded diving LSU linebacker Kevin Minter at the 27 and then juked safety Craig Loston — who had overpursued on the play — off his feet at the 15. After that it was a clear path to the end zone on what was Yeldon’s only receiving touchdown of the season.

“I’m really, really pleased with that last drive,” Saban said. “That’s something I’ll never forget.”

Here’s video of every scoring play in the game. The McCarron to Yeldon touchdown takes place at the 1:03 mark:

After Alabama’s Jeremy Shelley added the extra point, LSU’s Michael Ford returned the kickoff to the 20. Zach Mettenberger completed two short passes to running back Jeremy Hill before Damion Square sacked him on the game’s final play to secure the Alabama win — the Crimson Tide’s second in less than a calendar year over the Tigers, along with a 21-0 shutout in New Orleans for the previous season’s BCS national championship.

The November 2012 victory at Tiger Stadium improved the Crimson Tide to 9-0, but a week later Texas A&M came to Tuscaloosa and claimed a 29-24 upset win behind redshirt freshman quarterback — and eventual Heisman Trophy winner — Johnny Manziel. Alabama closed out the regular season with back-to-back 49-0 victories over Western Carolina and Auburn, the latter clinching the SEC West title.

Alabama edged Georgia 32-28 in the SEC championship game, which was enough to get it into the BCS national championship game against Notre Dame. The Crimson Tide pummeled the Fighting Irish 42-14 for its second straight title and third in four years.

But if not for a memorable victory in Baton Rouge, Alabama would not have been in position to beat either Georgia or Notre Dame. It all came down to a clutch five-play, 72-yard drive in the final minutes, and a perfectly executed pass from AJ to T.J. that turned into a TD.

“I didn’t doubt it one bit at all,” McCarron said. “I just love moments like that. I like having the ball in pressure situations. When you’ve got teammates like I have, it makes your job easy.”

Coming Friday: Our countdown to kickoff continues with No. 71, when Alabama changes its offense and changes the trajectory of an entire decade

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What to know about Mercer, Auburn football’s final out of conference opponent

Auburn football’s game last out of conference game before the Iron Bowl normally serves as a tune up game for the Tigers.

The 2023 season changed that narrative as Diego Pavia and New Mexico State stormed into Jordan-Hare stadium and embarrassed the Tigers 31-10. Auburn could see a similar opponent to that in the Mercer Bears.

Auburn is 13-0 against Mercer dating all the way back to 1922. Here’s an early look at what you can expect from the Bears this fall:

2024 season review

Mercer finished last season with an 11-3 record, ranking it No. 1 the Southern conference. In the FCS playoffs, the Bears were eliminated in the quarterfinal by North Dakota State.

Freshman quarterback Whitt Newbauer passed for 1,398 yards with 12 touchdowns and four interceptions. He led the Bears offense to averaging 31.4 points per game, ranking 30th in the country.

On defense, the bears lost its best player in Myles Redding who finished with nine interceptions and 33 solo tackles.

Mercer to headline FCS kickoff in Alabama

The 12th-ranked Mercer football team will battle 11th-ranked UC Davis on ESPN in primetime for both the FCS Kickoff and NCAA Division II Red Tails Classic in Montgomery, Alabama.

This is the Bears second time playing in this game, and UC Davis is the first California-based school to play in the FCS Kickoff.

The FCS Kickoff is scheduled for a 6 p.m. August 23 at the historic Cramton Bowl. Mercer’s game with Auburn will kick off at 1:00 p.m. and will be streamed on ESPN+.

Jerry Humphrey III covers Auburn sports forAL.com. You can follow him on X at @Jerryhump3or email him at [email protected].

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Asking Eric: Response to reader from previous question.

Dear Eric: While I agree with your response to “Concerned Parent”, whose comments kept offending their daughter, you may have forgotten that the daughter is a millennial. And millennials are universally offended by any criticism. From anyone, especially a parent. While a friend may appreciate the gentle reminder that a requirement is actually mathematics, a millennial will take that information as an insult. As the parent of a 40-year-old, I try to ask myself “did they ASK?” before I offer advice.

– Millennial Mom

Dear Mom: Universally? Not to prove my geriatric millennial bona fides, but I have to push back on this a little bit. I think there’s two aspects of this letter that deserve to be lifted up. First, generational generalizations don’t really serve anyone. Per U.S. Census Bureau data, there are more than 72 million millennials in the United States. (A millennial is defined as someone born between 1981 and 1996).

Now, it may feel like 72 million people can’t take criticism, but is that really true? I don’t think any generation – zoomers, boomers, and all the rest – wants to be defined by negative characteristics. These kinds of generalities can help inform a culture context and perhaps lead to curiosity, but they don’t really work as psychological diagnoses.

However, I love the way you end the letter. “Did they ask?” is a fantastic self-check-in for anyone, of any age, who is about to offer unsolicited advice. Sometimes, in conversation, I’ll even ask the person. “Are you asking for advice, or do you just need to be heard?”

Read more Asking Eric and other advice columns.

Send questions to R. Eric Thomas at [email protected] or P.O. Box 22474, Philadelphia, PA 19110. Follow him on Instagram and sign up for his weekly newsletter at rericthomas.com.

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Asking Eric: Affair ruined a friend group, now cheater wants back in

Dear Eric: My hubby and I are in our late 60s. Starting in our 30s, we had a large group of friends, with whom we spent many fun weekends together. It was so much fun, and we all treasure those days. All wonderful people, or so we thought.

A few years ago, it came out that one of our dearest friends had an affair with another dear friend’s wife for seven years, while we were all getting together all those many times.

The shock of this was unbelievable. The cheated-on husband was devastated, has since divorced and moved hours away. He’s had no contact with the cheating wife, same as the rest of us.

The affair was 30 or 35 years ago now. We’ve all aged and people have moved away, health issues have prevented much socializing and getting together is almost nonexistent with any of us. None of us has seen or heard from the other adulterer or his wife.

But the cheater came over yesterday, spur of the moment. My hubby said yes to a quick visit, thinking he had something important to tell us. I was not home.

After a short, awkward visit, the cheater pleaded his case to my hubby. He said it was all half a lifetime ago and that after the affair ended, he had tried to be a great friend to the cheated-on friend (weird). He said that he and his wife have zero friends. I’m sure he wanted to rekindle the friendship with my husband. They were very close. My hubby said he didn’t know if that was possible and the cheater left in tears.

We feel horrible. I can feel the cheater’s pain. Are we wrong to not rekindle this friendship? Seems like a betrayal, although we aren’t in touch much with the cheated-on guy. We feel like judge and jury, though, and know that forgiveness and compassion are good things.

– Past Rewritten

Dear Past: Your loyalty to your friend who was cheated on is commendable; it makes sense. But in answering your question, I’d like to focus on a different relationship – that between you and the friend who came to visit recently. Because that’s also a relationship that has been damaged by his actions and that’s currently the only one that you have the power to fix.

His actions (and the actions of the woman with whom he cheated) not only hurt their spouses, but they created a fissure in your friend group. So, if he can acknowledge that and work to repair the bond between himself and you and your husband, there may be some hope.

He doesn’t get to come waltzing back into your life simply because he’s in a tough spot, emotionally. You don’t owe him companionship. But if you and your husband are open to it, and he’s able to work on making amends, you should pursue it. There’s so much damage in the past that I don’t think it’s a betrayal of your loyalty to your other friend. Rekindling this friendship won’t impact him, so you can step down from the judicial bench and put down the gavel. This will allow you to see your friend as human and, like us all, flawed.

Read more Asking Eric and other advice columns.

Send questions to R. Eric Thomas at [email protected] or P.O. Box 22474, Philadelphia, PA 19110. Follow him on Instagram and sign up for his weekly newsletter at rericthomas.com.

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Legendary country music group may never play this song live: ‘Not sure I can even get through it’

Duane Allen told Taste of Country there is a good chance the Oak Ridge Boys will never perform “Ever With Me” live.

The lead singer explained the track was difficult to complete in studio because the song makes him too emotional.

“We decided to leave it on (the record ‘Mama’s Boys), because it was real,” Allen said. “I was going through losing my wife during the recording process of that song, and it has a lot of emotion in it. I really like it.”

Allen’s wife, Norah Lee Allen, died on Easter Sunday in 2024 after a long illness.

“There’s a song on here called ‘Ever With Me,’ and if you listen closely enough, you can hear the trembling in my voice,” he said.

Allen revealed the song may never be performed live.

“We’ve not been able to do that on stage yet, because I’m not sure I can even get through it,” he said.

Mark Heim is a reporter for The Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter@Mark_Heim. He can be heard on “The Opening Kickoff” on WNSP-FM 105.5 FM in Mobile or on the free Sound of Mobile App from 6 to 9 a.m. daily.

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Robert Horry and 7 other NBA champions from Alabama

The Oklahoma City Thunder can win the NBA championship for the 2024-25 season on Thursday. The Thunder takes on the Indiana Pacers at 7:30 p.m. CDT holding a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven title series.

Eighteen players from Alabama high schools and colleges appeared in NBA regular-season games in 2024-25, but none made it to the championship series.

That will leave the number of players with Alabama basketball roots who have played in the finals for the NBA championship team at eight, although one of those players did so seven times.

A former Andalusia High School and Alabama star, Robert Horry played for NBA championship teams with the Houston Rockets in 1994 and 1995, the Los Angeles Lakers in 2000, 2001 and 2002 and the San Antonio Spurs in 2005 and 2007.

Horry is among nine players who won at least seven NBA championships, and he’s the only one who did not spend his entire career with the Boston Celtics.

With 244 playoff games, Horry ranks fourth in NBA history behind LeBron James, Derek Fisher and Tim Duncan.

“Big Shot Bob” averaged 9.9 points, 6.2 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 1.3 steals and 1.2 blocked shots in 37 NBA Finals games. His averages across 16 NBA regular seasons were 7.0 points, 4.8 rebounds, 2.1 assists, 1.0 steals and 0.9 blocked shots. A 34.1 percent 3-point shooter in the regular season, Horry made 39.2 percent of his 3-point shots in NBA Finals games.

In addition to Horry, the NBA champions from Alabama high schools and colleges who played in the title series are:

Bennie Swain, Boston Celtics, 1959

From Westside High School in Talladega, the center was a first-round rookie when the Celtics won the second of their 11 championships in the Bill Russell dynasty. Swain played in two games of Boston’s sweep of the Minneapolis Lakers in the NBA Finals. A knee injury sustained in the offseason ended Swain’s NBA career after one season.

Tom Boswell, Boston Celtics, 1976

From Carver High School in Montgomery, Boswell was a first-round rookie when Boston beat the Phoenix Suns in six games in the NBA Finals. Boswell played in one of the championship-series games after he’d appeared in 35 regular-season contests.

Andrew Toney, Philadelphia 76ers, 1983

From Glenn High School in Birmingham, Toney made the first of his two NBA All-Star Game appearances on the way to the 1983 championship. The Sixers needed only 12 playoff games to win the title, with the guard averaging 18.8 points and 4.6 assists per game in the postseason run. Toney earned the nickname “The Boston Strangler” because of his performances against the Celtics, but Philadelphia beat the New York Knicks, Milwaukee Bucks and Los Angeles Lakers during their march to the NBA crown.

Pete Chilcutt, Houston Rockets, 1995

From Tuscaloosa Academy, Chilcutt had been released by the Detroit Pistons early in the 1994-95 season. He signed with Houston in November, and the Rockets went on to win their second straight NBA title. When coach Rudy Tomjanovich decided he’d prefer to have Mario Elie coming off the bench, Chilcutt moved into the starting lineup at forward for 15 of the Rockets’ 20 playoff games.

Jason Caffey, Chicago Bulls, 1997

From Davidson High School in Mobile and Alabama, Caffey played for the Chicago Bulls’ title team in 1997, his second NBA season. The Bulls also won the 1996 NBA title, but the first-round rookie missed the playoffs because of an injury. Chicago won the 1998 crown, too, but the Bulls traded Caffey to the Golden State Warriors that season for a player and two draft picks on Feb. 19.

Ben Wallace, Detroit Pistons, 2004

From Central High School in Haneyville, Wallace was in the second of his four straight All-Star seasons when the Pistons beat the Los Angeles Lakers in five games in the NBA Finals. Wallace averaged 10.8 points and 13.4 rebounds per game in the series. The next season, Detroit lost a seven-game series to the San Antonio Spurs to decide the NBA champion.

Mo Williams, Cleveland Cavaliers, 2016

From Alabama, Williams closed a 13-year NBA career with a league championship. Williams dealt with chondromalacia, an inflammation of cartilage under the kneecap, in the 2015-16 season and played in only half of Cleveland’s regular-season games. But he played in six of the seven needed to take the title from the Golden State Warriors.

When the Boston Celtics won the 2024 NBA championship, JD Davison was on the team. But because the former standout at the Calhoun School in Letohatchee and Alabama was on two-way contract with Boston, he was not eligible to play in the postseason.

Two players with Alabama basketball roots played on ABA championship games when that league and the NBA were professional basketball rivals:

Larry Kenon, New York Nets, 1974

From Ullman High School in Birmingham, Kenon gave the Nets an All-Star frontcourt as a rookie when he joined Julius “Dr. J” Erving and Billy “The Whopper” Paultz for the 1973-74 season. Kenon would be an All-Star four more times, including twice in the NBA, but the 1974 ABA crown would be his only championship. Kenon averaged 15.8 points and 14.2 rebounds in the five games needed for the Nets to beat the Utah Stars in the final series.

Artis Gilmore, Kentucky Colonels, 1975

From Carver High School in Dothan, Gilmore played 17 seasons across the ABA and NBA, but the 1974-75 season produced his only championship. Gilmore had been an ABA All-Star in all four of his seasons when the Colonels won the league title. In the five games needed to dispatch the Indiana Pacers in the championship series, Gilmore averaged 25 points and 21 rebounds and won the Most Valuable Player Award for the playoffs.

Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on X at @AMarkG1.

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