Happy Monday, everyone. The Gym Tide finished fourth at SEC Championships over the weekend, which is exactly how they were seeded. Gabby Gladieux won an individual SEC title in the floor exercise. Next up will be NCAA regionals in early April.
The softball team took two of three from Mizzou, and baseball bounced back with a sweep of Florida.
The women’s basketball team faces a tall task this morning at 3-seed Louisville.
After a first-round win on Saturday, the sixth-seeded Crimson Tide will square
off against Louisville on Monday at 11 a.m. CST.
The game at the KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, Ky., will be broadcast on ESPN. Official windows for all second-round were updated late Saturday evening with corrected times.
Best of luck to them, that one isn’t going to be easy.
Of course, the men’s basketball team had a resounding victory over Texas Tech in round two of the NCAA tournament.
Nate Oats was proud of his team’s blue collar effort, as he should have been.
“When you lose yourself in a game, lock into playing defense, making the effort plays, getting stops, getting rebounds, that stuff takes care of itself. And I think this game exemplified it as much as any game you’ve ever seen.
“I thought these guys were about the right stuff. I’m super happy for these seniors. This is the fourth straight Sweet 16 we’ve been to. These guys know what winning takes. Trelly has been here three years, been part of a Final Four and an Elite Eight, now a Sweet 16 team, we’re trying to make a deeper run.
“Houston came in, was part of that last year’s Elite Eight run, even though he wasn’t playing at that point. And Noah came in here to win, and he’s been all about the right stuff. Super happy. He’s 3-for-3 in the tournament. And I’ve seen a different side of him.
“He ends up with eight points, plays well. Thought he made some big defensive plays. Had a steal.
Michigan is obviously a different animal. The Tide will need the same level of effort and shooting prowess we saw last night in order to have a chance in that one.
Football took spring break off but returns to the practice field today. All eyes are still on the quarterbacks and offensive line.
In 2025, five players took at least 180 snaps at left or right guard: Kam Dewberry, William Sanders, Wilkin Formby, Jaeden Roberts and Geno VanDeMark, who saw at least 213 snaps at both right and left guard. Two things remain a reality into 2026: four of those players are gone, and Alabama does not want that level of movement if it can help it.
Sanders is out for spring, so starting spots may not be definitive until fall. But the next few weeks should solidify who is in the running for what the Crimson Tide wants in a guard, who’s in the starting five for the long haul — whether it’s Texas transfer Nick Brooks or Ole Miss transfer Ethan Fields, or returners like Casey Poe or Mal Waldrep Jr.
High school recruiting budgets dipped across the board in this cycle, but Kalen DeBoer is still prioritizing it more than most.
Alabama football’s recruiting spending ranked second in the SEC for the second consecutive year. According to financial reports for the league’s 15 public schools, submitted to the NCAA and obtained by AL.com through a series of open records requests, the Crimson Tide spent $4.3 million during the 2025 fiscal year.
FY 2025 ran from July 1, 2024 through June 30, 2025, and thus did not fit perfectly into a single recruiting cycle. During that time though, only Tennessee put more into football recruiting than Alabama, dropping $4.6 million.
It’s clear that Kalen still believes in developing a roster rather than buying one.
Last, we are now a month out from the NFL Draft. To hear the analysts tell it, Kadyn Proctor has a first round spot locked up and Ty Simpson is a wild card.
Brugler lists Proctor as his No. 17 overall prospect in his latest Top 100 players available in the draft.
NFL media analyst Daniel Jeremiah lists Proctor as his No. 23 overall prospect in his most recent Top 50 players.
“Overall, Proctor will need to manage his weight to stay at tackle, but he has the most upside of any blocker in this draft,” Jeremiah wrote.
ESPN’s Field Yates recently his updated Top 50 players and Proctor came in at No. 13.
“He is best described as a human forklift when he gets hands on a defender,” Yates wrote. “He barrels through players in the running game, and he can use his length to drive rushers away from the quarterback. There’s major upside for the 20-year old tackle.”
“Also, I think that maybe there is a round two where they trade back into round one if they are in love with him. I don’t think the New York Jets draft him at two. Maybe they’re an option in the middle of the first round.
“But it feels like a game of musical chairs where the ideal spots for him might be more round two than round one.”
Despite the concerns, Simpson remains confident about his preparation at Alabama.
“I just told ’em, like, Alabama is the best place to get you prepared for the NFL, I fully believe that,” he said.
“I think with coach Nick Saban‘s infrastructure that he implemented there, and then coach Kalen DeBoer coming in and keeping that same structure is super real and prepares you for the NFL better than most colleges.”
That’s about it for today. Have a great week.
Roll Tide.
