Can NCAA basketball fans really bother to watch Arkansas Razorbacks take on Alabama Crimson at all?”
Courtney Fortson and Charvez Davis have faced personal challenges this year, but the one thing that keeps them motivated through the tough times is talking to each other.While their paths have led them to rival Southeastern Conference basketball programs, the former Montgomery players know a friend is never more than a phone call away. “We talk pretty much every night — or every other night,” Davis said. “We keep in touch with each other. In high school, we were like brothers, and we’re still like brothers. He’s just a couple of thousand miles away.” Fortson and Davis were classmates at Fitzpatrick Elementary and teammates at Brewbaker Junior High and Jeff Davis High. Now they’re rivals, with Fortson playing at the University of Arkansas and Davis at the University of Alabama. Today they’ll face each other in a SEC West Division game in Tuscaloosa — two lifelong friends, each trying to help his team at the expense of the other. “We help each other out any way we can, even though he’s
The Alabama Crimson Tide men’s basketball program has been overshadowed for most of its history by football, even though it trails only Kentucky in SEC basketball wins, SEC tournament titles, and regular season titles. They are now headed by head coach Anthony Grant. In recent years, the men’s basketball program has again risen in stature nationally under former coach Mark Gottfried, achieving a No. 1 national ranking briefly in 2003. Further, UA has once again become a regular conference basketball contender, much as it was in the 1980s and early 1990s under the direction of Wimp Sanderson and the 70s under C. M. Newton. Alabama has 8 NCAA Sweet 16 appearances and in the 2003-04 season, the men’s team reached the Elite Eight in the NCAA tournament; they ended up losing to eventual champion, Connecticut. Former coaches with at least five years include: C.M. Newton (1969-1980); Wimp Sanderson (1981-1992) – Alabama’s winningest coach (69.2%); David Hobbs (1992-1998); Mark Gottfried (1998
