TUSCALOOSA ?? The University of Alabama has been ranked No. 12 in the ESPN/USA Today Preseason Coaches’ poll released on Friday.
Mark Gottfried’s Crimson Tide basketball team went from unranked in the final Coaches’ poll last season to checking in among the top 12 to start the 2006-07 season. Alabama returns two John R. Wooden candidates in junior point guard Ronald Steele and senior center Jermareo Davidson who co-led Alabama in scoring last season at 14.3 points a game. Alabama also returns two men who were Freshman All-SEC last year, sophomore forwards Richard Hendrix and Alonzo Gee, as well as guard Brandon Hollinger, a starter as a freshman in 2006. The Tide finished 18-13 in 2006, advancing to the NCAA tournament’s second round where it fell to 2006 Final Four team UCLA 62-59. It was Gottfried’s fifth consecutive NCAA trip with the Tide.
Defending National Champions, Florida, enters the season at No. 1, followed by North Carolina, Kansas, Ohio State, Pittsburgh, UCLA, LSU, Georgetown, Wisconsin, Arizona, Duke, Alabama, Texas A&M, Memphis, Boston College, Washington, Marquette, Connecticut, Texas, Syracuse, Georgia Tech, Kentucky, Creighton, Tennessee and Nevada.
