Byrne Notice presented by Mercedes-Benz
6/18/2020 5:30:00 PM | General
Football and Basketball Student-Athletes Return to Campus
We began our phased return to campus this month and are thrilled to have several of our student-athletes and staff back in our facilities. Currently, we have members of our football and men's and women's basketball teams here taking part in voluntary workouts and are working on plans for the rest of our sports. Extensive testing has been and continues to be conducted in addition to daily screenings and additional prevention measures to limit the spread of COVID-19. That being said, we expect to have positive cases, and when we do we are acting in accordance with guidance from The University of Alabama System Task Force, UA President's Advisory Committee and relevant government agencies.
Engaged and Committed
Over the last several weeks, we have continued to listen and engage with our student-athletes, coaches and staff as we navigate through the challenging and tragic circumstances going on in our country. It's so important to remember that no matter our race, age, gender or personal preferences, we are all people. We all want to feel valued and supported, and we are committed to taking action.
We've had a number of team and staff conversations recently, and last week our football team had the honor and privilege of hearing from former Secretary of State, Dr. Condoleezza Rice. We are so thankful to Dr. Rice for providing our team with this incredible opportunity and will be sharing Dr. Rice's talk with our other teams.
This week, we set up voter registration in the Mal Moore Athletic Facility where several of our staff members and student-athletes did their part to sign up. Representatives from the Secretary of State's office will be making a return trip in September to provide the same service to our remaining teams who are not currently on campus.
There have also been multiple events coordinated by UA's Division of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion that many of us have taken part in and listened to including a virtual vigil in remembrance of black lives lost due to racialized violence and campus conversations about surviving and thriving in a time of uncertainty, how to be a good ally and Reflections on the Stand, a webinar on Vivian Malone and James Hood and the desegregation of The University of Alabama.
We are far from finished in these efforts and are continuing to build an extensive list of resources that will be available for everyone on RollTide.com.
As I said last month, we all have the ability to show love, grace, compassion, kindness, support and understanding for the people in our lives. It could be one person that you impact or it could be thousands. It does not matter the number. What matters is that we make a commitment to these actions.
Gentry Selected by Kansas City in Round Three of the 2020 MLB Draft
Congratulations to Tyler Gentry for being selected as the fourth pick of the third round, and 76th overall, in the 2020 MLB First-Year Player Draft by the Kansas City Royals. He became the second-highest drafted Crimson Tide outfielder in program history and highest Alabama player taken since Mikey White went in the second round of the 2015 MLB Draft. Tyler's selection in the 2020 draft increased the Crimson Tide's all-time draft pick total to 159 since the event began in 1966. Alabama has now had at least one player selected for 42 consecutive years dating back to 1979.
Football Adds Home-and-Home with Ohio State
We are thrilled to have announced our 10th football home-and-home with the addition of Ohio State to the 2027 and 2028 seasons. The first game will take place in Columbus on Sept. 18, 2027, while the Buckeyes will return the trip to Tuscaloosa on Sept. 9, 2028. In addition to this series with Ohio State, we have also added Texas (2022 & 2023), Wisconsin (2024 & 2025), Florida State (2025 & 2026), West Virginia (2026 & 2027), Notre Dame (2028 & 2029), Georgia Tech (2030 & 2031), Oklahoma (2032 & 2033), Arizona (2032 & 2033) and Virginia Tech (2034 & 2035) and have a 2-for-1 home-and-home series with South Florida in 2023, 2024 and 2026.
Future Basketball Schedules
To go along with our football scheduling news, we've had a few announcements recently regarding future basketball opponents. Our men's team added a home-and-home with the Houston Cougars for the 2020-21 and 2021-22 seasons as well as a 2-for-1 series to be played over the next three seasons with South Alabama. On the women's side, matchups were announced for the 2020 SEC/Big 12 Challenge, where we will face Oklahoma State in Stillwater.
Softball Trio Earns CoSIDA Academic All-America
Our softball team continues to hit homeruns in the classroom as Bailey Hemphill, Kaylee Tow and Krystal Goodman all earned a place on the 2020 CoSIDA Softball Academic All-America team, giving us the most honors in a single season since 2014. It was the third accolade in a row for Bailey, the second for Kaylee and first for Krystal. Overall, softball has earned 29 Academic All-America honors in program history. In addition to Bailey, Kaylee and Krystal, soccer players Nealy Martin and Alex Plavin earned Academic All-America honors this fall, bumping our total to five so far in 2019-20, while the at-large and track and field/cross country AAA teams have yet to be revealed.
Track & Field/Cross Country Academic All-District IV
In addition to our trio of Softball Academic All-Americans, three members of our track and field/cross country teams earned CoSIDA Academic All-District IV honors. Junior Daija Lampkin earned the accolade for the second year in a row, while Vincent Kiprop, in his fifth year, and junior Samantha Zelden, both earned the recognition for the first time. All three have earned All-America honors during their Crimson Tide careers and now move on to the national ballot, with Daija looking for her second Academic All-America certificate. Vincent, Samantha and Daija bumped our CoSIDA Academic All-District IV total to 17 for 2019-20, joining Alba Cortina Pou (women's tennis/at-large), Landon Dickerson (football), Krystal Goodman (softball), Bailey Hemphill (softball), Daniel Kober (men's swimming and diving/at-large), Jordan Lewis (women's basketball), Nealy Martin (soccer), Alexey Nesterov (men's tennis/at-large), Alex Plavin (soccer), Kolby Robinson (baseball), Allie Surrency (women's swimming and diving/at-large), Kaylee Tow (softball), Zane Waddell (men's swimming and diving/at-large) and Jedrick Wills Jr. (football).
Alabama Rowing Places 13 on CRCA Scholar-Athlete List
Thirteen of our rowers earned a spot on the 2020 Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association (CRCA) Scholar-Athlete List, which was announced last week. We have now had at least five student-athletes named to the list every year since the program's inaugural 2006-07 season and 10 or more five of the last six seasons. In total, 140 Alabama rowers have earned this distinction over those 14 seasons.
Track and Field Indoor All-Americans
Alabama track and field saw nine student-athletes earn indoor All-America honors from its coaches association recently, totaling five women and four men, including seniors D'Jai Baker, Robert Dunning, Natassha McDonald and Takyera Roberson, juniors Tamara Clark and Isaac Odugbesan along with sophomores Mercy Chelangat, Bobby Colantonio Jr. and Christian Edwards. D'Jai, Robert, Natassha, Takyera, Tamara and Bobby have all earned All-America recognition prior to this season, while Isaac, Mercy and Christian all grabbed the first honors of their Alabama careers.
Limited Number of Champions Club Seats Available
We are eagerly awaiting the kickoff of the 2020 football season, and the opportunity to welcome you back to Bryant-Denny Stadium. As you know, construction has been underway since the close of the 2019 season in order to complete Phase I of The Crimson Standard renovations. In addition to a completely updated locker room and recruiting room as well as a relocated press box, our fans will enjoy an expanded concourse on the west upper deck and 60 percent larger video boards. Our new premium seating options were met with great demand and the skyboxes, Loge Boxes and Terrace Club are all sold out. However, there are still a limited number of Champions Club seats available.
The Champions Club is located on the U2 level on the west side of Bryant-Denny Stadium with sideline views from the end zone to the 25 yard lines. Champions Club patrons will enjoy an all-inclusive food and non-alcoholic beverage in the enclosed, air conditioned club and a variety of amenities including:
- Covered, outdoor stadium seating
- Cushioned, chairback seats
- Access to climate-controlled club with dining seating
- All-inclusive food and non-alcoholic beverages
- Alcohol storage lockers & pouring room
- Private restrooms
- Designated stadium entry and elevator access
- Reserved parking (location determined by Tide Totals priority points)
If you would like to learn more about the Champions Club or to secure your seats, please contact the Crimson Tide Foundation at (205)348-9727 or ctf@ia.ua.edu.
University Spotlight
This week, The University of Alabama announced its plans for return to full operations. While these plans continue to evolve as we learn more, we look forward to the day our beautiful campus is bustling again with students, faculty, staff and visitors.
#RollTideFriday
Our final #RollTideFriday photos of the 2019-20 athletic season both are full of Alabama pride. First, we have men's tennis student-athlete Avi Shugar testing out his baking skills with a script A sourdough and the gear to match. Secondly, we have a photo submitted by Christy Wilcoxson and fellow staffers from Cherokee Elementary School.
Avi Shugar
Christy Wilcoxson
We will pick back up with the Byrne Notice in August, so continue to use the hashtag #RollTideFriday in your social posts and tweet your photos to me at @Greg_Byrne.
