Happy Monday, everyone. It was a good day on the diamonds, as the baseball team took two of three
at 11th-ranked Oklahoma, while softball overcame a disastrous series opener to knock off top-ranked Texas.Unfortunately, the news wasn’t good for the Gym Tide as they meekly bowed out of NCAA regional action.
Alabama gymnastics season came to a close placing fourth in the NCAA Regional Final.
The Crimson Tide scored a 197.125 in the meet. It is the second lowest score in a meet all season for Alabama.
Azaraya Ra-Akbar placed fourth with a 39.475 and Gabby Gladieux scored a 39.325.
The Crimson Tide missed out on a third straight national championship meet appearance. They have placed eighth in the country the last two seasons. UCLA and Minnesota advance out of the regional.
The vault did them in. Needless to say, it’s highly disappointing to have the second lowest score at this time of year. They were heavily favored to advance, but such is life with any one and done tournament style setup.
Nate Oats got another well deserved raise.
“Nate Oats has signed a new contract that will make him one of the top five compensated men’s basketball coaches in the country,” Byrne said in a statement on social media. “Appropriate members of the Board of Trustees have been notified of the proposed terms of the new agreement and it will soon be formally approved through the board process.”
Byrne did not provide additional details about Oats’ exact salary, but a top-five deal would put Oats above $6 million annually, based on the current list of highest-compensated coaches per USA Today. The head coach earned $5.5 million this year under an extension he signed in 2024.
Just as important was last week’s news that more money will be allocated to the roster this season. It looks like Taylor Bol Bowen will not be getting any of it.
It was an uneven year for Taylor, so this isn’t terribly surprising. Nate spoke after the season about the need to get bigger on the front line, and Bol Bowen doesn’t really fit that need.
In football news, the two defensive line additions turned heads in the second spring scrimmage.
Next to Thompkins, the South Carolina transfer also drew praise for his efforts getting in the backfield during the second scrimmage.
“Scored a home run with these two,” one observer said of Umeozulu and Thompkins.
Defensive coordinator Kane Wommack can also move Umeozulu around a good bit, but the 6-foot-6, 253-pound transfer figures to help create pressure off the edge of the defense.
Last, the quarterback competition remains close.
It doesn’t seem that either quarterback has a clear edge in the competition at the moment. There’s not much indication based on how snaps were distributed Friday or how they performed that one has a leg up at the moment. When asked if one quarterback was better, one observer said “I don’t think so.”
Both made mistakes in the second scrimmage. Both have work to do.
Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer said it “wasn’t their sharpest day.”
“I would say that it wasn’t up to the standard that they’ve had,” DeBoer said, “but there’s no doubt that if we had to play a game, there’s some things that they do very well that we’re confident in that they could execute at a high level.”
If Alabama played a game tomorrow, multiple observers shared they think Mack would get the nod to be the first quarterback out there. And that’s not shocking this early in the competition, pre A-Day.
Hopefully one of them can play winning football in the fall.
That’s about it for today. Have a great week.
Roll Tide.
