RTR91 said:

He's already getting on Bruce Pearl's nerves, which is always a good thing.

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TIDE-HSV said:

A little disappointed in the crowd - not even a blond to smooch him...

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RTR91 said:

Here's a release from UA about the hiring...

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CECIL HURT: He’s got the grin, but will he win?

Avery Johnson has always liked a fast pace, whether as a basketball player, an NBA coach or even a rapid-fire NBA analyst. So his first 48 hours in Tuscaloosa, while demanding, are not daunting.

Johnson landed at the Tuscaloosa Regional Airport on Tuesday afternoon with a full agenda ahead, ranging from a press conference today to NCAA certification work that will allow him to go on the road and start recruiting right away. But in a Tuesday-morning telephone call, he was quick to stress his first priority.

“Before I do anything else, I am going to meet with my players,” Johnson said. “That’s where it starts.”

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Avery Johnson not bringing 'cookie-cutter approach' to Alabama's brand of basketball

For two years, Avery Johnson observed.
Out of coaching, the former NBA star sat back and watched the game of basketball from a different perspective. The father of a rising high school star, there were countless AAU games. Then last year, Avery Johnson Jr., played at Texas A&M with dad watching closely.

All of that together helped develop plan for the style of basketball he'll bring to Alabama as its new head coach.

"I have a clear understanding of what works on the college level," Johnson told AL.com. "It's not going to be a cookie cutter approach where we're doing exactly what everyone else is doing."

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Rama Jama said:

There were about 200 fans there to greet him which is pretty good. I can see already we will be much happier with him than CAG. He will be open and transparent which is something Grant never was able to be.

As Coach Johnson said "it going to be a fun ride"

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RTR91 said:

He met the man this morning...

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RTR91 said:

He met the man this morning...

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mittman said:

I expected him to be taller :smile:

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Alabama men's basketball coach Avery Johnson has traveled all over the Southeast after being introduced as the Crimson Tide's 20th head coach a week ago, and he recently appeared on CBS Sports Radio's Ferrall on the Bench. Johnson detailed his reasoning behind accepting the Alabama job with other offers on the table for him -- a decision that had been on the coach's mind for two years.

"Well, after my last coaching stint with the Nets when I went back to ESPN, I started thinking about two years from now,” Johnson said on CBS Sports Radio. “What would I want my legacy to be? Do I want to try to go back to college? Do I want to give college a chance? Do I want to go to an NBA front office? Do I want to stay in television?

"So two years ago, I started asking myself all of those questions. And over those two years, my son was playing on the AAU circuit – the high-level AAU circuit – so I had a chance to watch a lot of the rising stars on that circuit. He was being recruited by some schools, so I had a chance to visit with probably 30+ college coaches from around the country.

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