Anthony Grant on Changing the B-ball Culture at Alabama, Recruiting and More
April 2, 2009 – 7:15 am by Will Brinson
Anthony Grant was recently introduced as the new head coach at Alabama University. It was interesting because Grant was offered the job at Alabama right before Billy Gillispie was fired at Kentucky. Gillispie’s firing nearly set off a domino effect, until Billy Donovan announced that he wasn’t interested in moving to an SEC rival.
You see, Grant didn’t actually call Alabama back about the job until after Donovan was cleared from the Kentucky job; meaning he obviously would rather coach at Florida, where he worked for Donovan. Whatever, Donovan stayed in Gainesville and Grant took the gig with Alabama, and judging by the following quotes, despite his all-bidness nature, he’s pretty excited about being there.
Anthony Grant joined The Roundtable on WJOX to discuss his new gig.
On the reception in Tuscaloosa:
“That was awesome. It was very unexpected, for my family and I to get off the plane and see the reception that was in place I think it spoke volumes about the passion that everyone here in this great state has for basketball. And it was humbling to see the number of people who came out to support us.”
On Alabama being a football school:
“I guess I’m different. I love college football. I’m a big fan and you understand the success of the football program, when you have the number of people who have that type of passion about it, I think it helps everybody. And at the end of a day, I tell my players this, I’m not going to treat every player equal, but every player will be treated fairly. And I think that’s all anyone can ask is to be treated fairly, given an opportunity, the resources to be as successful as you can.”
On how his early in-state recruiting attack:
“Yeah I am [hitting the ground running]. We’ve got two more days here before the period goes to a dead period, so, I’m trying to get out and obviously meet as many people as I can in the state and take care of some thing from a recruiting standpoint. I’m excited when the period opens back up to really getting around the state and meet the coaches and get everybody familiar with myself. And I think at the end of the day it comes down to building those relationships, and, you’re right, I’m excited about the talent that year-in and year-out this state produces and what we’ve got to do is do a good job of making this a viable option for every player that comes through this state that they take a strong look at the opportunities that are available for them at Alabama. I want kids in our state and this area to feel like “I can play for championships there.”
Listen to Anthony Grant on WJOX in Birmingham with the Roundtable
Tags: Alabama Crimson Tide, Anthony Grant, Billy Donovan, Billy Gillispie, College Basketball, Florida Gators, Kentucky Wildcats, WJOX
