Let’s get the Anti-Gump out of the way first.

F’n, SI, man. Bending over backwards to excuse blatant tampering.

“No bridges were burned, so that’s why it was so easy for me to pick them when I did enter the transfer portal, because we still had those relationships,” Proctor said. “Even after I was doing bad in the SEC, and, you know, struggling, they hit me up and said, ‘We’re proud of you, you’re going to get through this.’”

Based on Proctor’s statement, it sounds like Iowa’s staffers were more lending words of encouragement during a trying season than actively recruiting him.

Uh huh.

At least G Mac could be bothered to take his Anti-Gump blinders off long enough to call out this nonsense.

Oh, wait. No he didn’t. He also carried water for Iowa.

“Lot of people all bent of shape about the tampering. Y’all, it’s about relationships. It’s all about relationships,” McElroy said. “Iowa stayed in touch with Kaden Proctor, maybe he was a little homesick. He’s now going to go home, and that’s a big addition for Iowa and Kirk Ferentz.”

Just like the Supportive Friend during the breakup, he wants something from you. And Kaden and G Mac damn well know that too. I’ve never seen one person contort themselves quite like McElroy has and does to prove his lack of bias. Did Nick Saban sleep with his mom or something? Miss Terry give him food poisoning?

I’m out of excuses for the Ginger Cringer.
And patience.

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Tonight, the Tide face cross-rival nuisance Auburn for a game that looks to be critical to the top of the SEC standings. Auburn has so far looked the part. Alabama, now in the meat of its conference slate has been…a bit bumpier.

“It’s going to be a typical Alabama-Auburn game,” Alabama coach Nate Oats said. “We’ve got some competitive guys that know what a rivalry game looks like that can step up in this big game and play like it’s a league championship — because it very well may be.”

Auburn, No. 8 nationally, sits atop the SEC at 16-2 overall and 5-0 against the league. Alabama is 12-6 and 4-1, and in a three-way tie for second with No. 5 Tennessee and No. 6 Kentucky, though the Tide lost to the Vols last Saturday, 91-71.

A win for Alabama brings Auburn back to the pack, but a win for the Tigers would, one, strengthen their lead in the SEC, and two, make it harder for the Tide to keep pace.

“They’re definitely playing better than we are right now,” Oats said, “but even when one team is better than the other, this game is typically a tough, hard-fought game.”

We’ll have more on this one later. It’s a winnable game for ‘Bama, to be sure. But it’s one that will require 40 minutes of smart, effort basketball.

I have faith in them. If 4th and 31 can happen, so too can the Tide get it done at our house.

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Remember when everyone was worried that Coach Oats couldn’t recruit? LOL.

Alabama men’s basketball signees Derrion Reid and Aiden Sherrell have been selected to the McDonald’s Boys High School All-American game, organizers announced Tuesday. Alabama is one of five schools in the country that has signed two McDonald’s All-Americans, along with Duke, Kentucky, North Carolina and Rutgers.

“You got two of the top 24 players in America coming in,” Oats said. “That’s pretty good.”

And it is.

This marks the third time in program history and second time under Oats that the Crimson Tide will have two signees represented at the annual event in the same year. The only other occurrences came in 2022 when signees Jaden Bradley and Brandon Miller played in the event and in 1981 when Bobby Lee Hurt and Ennis Whatley were recognized.

I’d say he’s done alright attracting talent to the Mausoleum.

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It’s Gump Day, so imma’ present this without commentary. LOL

Braud said it was exciting to be on the field with the players, “and they have been phenomenal, all fall and in preseason in the few weeks we’ve had in January.“We have a lot of speed, a lot of athleticism. I think we’re going to surprise a lot of people this year.

“All-in-all, I think Coach Murphy would say it, these young women are going to get after it, they come prepared to play, they work really, really hard, and we’ve got a lot of depth.”There’s reason to believe not many will be surprised. Alabama success in the Murphy Era has been exceptional and is coming off its 14th appearance in the Women’s College World Series.

Alabama returns 15 players and is ranked 11th in the preseason polls…and, no comment.

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I think lost in the coaching reshuffle isn’t just the impact on recruiting per se, but rather in having to come in from scratch, re-evaluate everyone on ‘Bama’s old board, and then decided on a new set of priorities.

It’s really a very daunting prospect that probably requires extending a little patience. As this is Alabama, the fan emphasis is likely going to be on ‘little’.

“I still think they’re in the evaluation process, right?” Watts said. “They’re having to get on the road, and they’re going to be on the road from the morning till the night. We’ve seen Kalen DeBoer’s very active. But they’re going to be on the road from morning to night, so at some point they’re going to have to evaluate and break down the film, because they won’t necessarily like the same players that Nick Saban and his staff liked.

“There could be different guys, and that goes down to the guys that decommitted, the underclassmen who were committed, everyone was like, ‘Well they haven’t contacted them yet.’ Well they weren’t very familiar with them, that’s for one thing. It’d be rare that the second, the new staff would like everybody the old staff liked. That would be a rarity.”

All of that promises a lot of exciting times for Alabama recruiting in the coming months. There will likely be some scrambling as different pieces move around.

“Man, it’s early and dominos are moving around and musical chairs are being played,” Watts said. “But yeah, you want to get out and let them see you on the radar and just kind of push and let them know what you’re about.”

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One thing that could make ‘Bama’s recruiting path easier is if the Khaki Cheater takes his ethical calamity roadshow to the NFL, and allows ‘Bama GM Courtney Morgan to poach someone else for a change. Morgan, as you know, built the roster for a Wolverines team that just beat Alabama three weeks ago.

Vegas has taken Harbaugh-to-Chargers off the books, and UM/Dad Pants are “at an impasse,” owing to him wanting immunity for patently obvious, systemic cheating:

An NCAA rule that makes it more likely Jim Harbaugh could be charged with major NCAA violations is at the heart of the coach’s contract negotiations with Michigan, sources tell CBS Sports.

Under the NCAA’s coach responsibility provision, which was strengthened just one year ago on Jan. 1, 2023, Harbaugh would be charged with a Level I violation in the sign-stealing scandal if any member of his staff is found to have committed a Level I violation. The charge itself cannot be argued; however, the severity of the penalty can be debated before the NCAA Committee on Infractions.

The Level I finding would remain on Harbaugh’s record no matter his level of compliance, monitoring or diligence in the matter.

He’s so gone…and I, for one, spied several linemen that I think would look stellar in crimson and white.

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Let’s end with an absolute banger of some good news. One-time ‘Bama WR target, Ryan Williams, who entered the Portal after Saban left, has seemingly only gotten warmer and warmer to KDB. How serious is it that he could recommit to the Tide?

The five-star, top-rated Williams canceled his trip to Austin yesterday.

Williams, who visited Alabama last weekend and is scheduled to visit Auburn on Feb. 2, is set to announce his decision and sign on Feb. 9, his 17th birthday. He visited Texas A&M earlier this month and canceled a visit to LSU last week. Later Tuesday night, a photo was posted on Instagram showing a new tattoo on Williams’ arm that read “Deuce.”

The state’s 2022 Mr. Football, Williams told AL.com on Monday he was texting with Longhorns quarterback Arch Manning about the upcoming visit. It would have been his first visit to Texas. He said the recruiting whirlwind has become a little tiresome.

“Just a little bit, but when I started the process and it started getting going, I knew it all this was going to be a part of it from other people telling me,” he said Monday. “It’s real once you get into it.”

Let’s just hope that Aggie didn’t outbid the Tide…and, hey, if Texas wants to swap Isaiah Bond for Ryan Williams, I’ll take that trade six days of the week and twice on Sunday.

And ‘Bama even picked up the coveted Crystal Ball this morning!

That’s it for now. We’ll be back later with the Tide-Tigers hoops preview.

Roll Tide