HS coach says Tide QB commit is perfect fit

Alabama took a few shots at the biggest quarterback prospects in the country for the 2012 signing class.

Morris

Jameis Winston said no thanks. Gunner Kiel also passed. So that left Alec Morris, the Texas quarterback who chose the Tide after originally committing to Wake Forest.

He’s a consensus 3-star recruit from football-mad Allen High School. (Read about it’s $60 million stadium here)

Morris’ high school coach Tom Westerberg said the the 6-foot-3 passer with a strong right arm will fit right into Alabama’s offense.

“He is more of a pro-style quarterback than the college spread quarterback that’s going to go run the ball all over the place,” Westerberg said. “It’s more of a game manager, but if you look at the national championship game, they won it because they could throw the football. That’s what Alec brings to the table.”

Read much more about Morris in tomorrow’s newspaper.

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Video of Scott Cochran’s screaming baseball commercial

Alabama football strength and conditioning coach Scott Cochran is quite the star. He’s now the spokesman for the Tide baseball ticket office.

This is the video shown at all Alabama basketball games that strongly encourages all to check out the ball field this spring. I missed the first part, but you get the point.

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The basketball game story from Alabama’s win over Arkansas

The headline should explain the post. Why waste any more time. Start reading now.

TUSCALOOSA — Forget the 3-point line. Alabama did it one at a time Saturday afternoon.

Crawling out of its painful four-game losing streak, the Crimson Tide hammered away at Arkansas from the free-throw line. Slipping away with a 72-66 win meant nailing 20 of 25 without defenders, while missing all but two of 15 from the perimeter.

Oh, and toss in a little of that high-pressure defense, and Alabama (14-7, 3-4 SEC) found the slump-busting recipe for its 500th win in an antsy Coleman Coliseum.

Struggling veterans Tony Mitchell and JaMychal Green broke out of their own respective downturns to spark the final surge against the Razorbacks.

The top two offensive threats scored seven straight points late in the second half to give Alabama the lead for good.

Green had 10 of his 14 after halftime, while Trevor Releford had a game-high 18. Mitchell chipped in 11, and Andrew Steele came off the bench to score a career-high 11 and dish out six assists — a season high for any Alabama player.

It came down to aggressive play on the offensive end, Steele said.

“I think we took advantage of the way they wanted to guard us a lot of things,” he said. “I think our will to win was a lot greater than it has been in the past. You can tell in our eyes that we were not going to give up because we needed that one.”

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Top-ranked kicking recruit knows pressure moments

Give a read over the first of three recruiting profiles that you can see in the next few newspapers. Today, the subject is kicker and Alabama commit  Adam Griffith.

TUSCALOOSA — From his seat in Bryant-Denny Stadium on an early November night, Adam Griffith saw the perils of college football kicking.

Griffith

He was on a visit the day Crimson Tide specialists missed four of six kicks in the 9-6 overtime loss to LSU. It made an impact.

“I think for the first time there, he felt the pressure of being a college kicker,” said Hal Lamb, Griffith’s high school coach.

As the nation’s No. 1 high school place-kicker, according to two recruiting services, the Calhoun (Ga.) High School senior faced his share of tense moments. That, and his character, Lamb said, should help his transition to college.

Griffith is committed to sign as part of Alabama’s top-ranked recruiting class Wednesday. Less than two months earlier, the weight of a state championship landed on the shoulders of the Polish-born kicker.

Foreshadowing Jeremy Shelley’s five-kick BCS title game performance, Griffith nailed four in the Class AA title game Dec. 9. His 32-yarder in overtime beat Buford, led by fellow Alabama commit Dillon Lee, 27-24 after making a 46-yard field goal earlier in the game.

Lamb said Griffith was true from as deep as 52 yards in the undefeated run to the Georgia Dome this past fall.

“I wouldn’t hesitate to put him out there 55 or less,” Lamb said. “It didn’t matter what the conditions were. He’s a special talent. That’s for sure.”

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