2013 SEC Basketball Media Days
Arkansas coach Mike Anderson was surprised by Anthony Grant's firing.
(Mark Almond/malmond@al.com)
The firing of Anthony Grant as Alabama's basketball coach dropped Sunday and it caught a few SEC colleagues off guard.
A few coaches from the league commented on the news in Monday's media teleconference for teams in the postseason.
"First off, I didn't believe it," said Arkansas' Mike Anderson, a former UAB coach from 2002-06. "And then to see they were going to the NIT ... Anthony is a tremendous coach and a tremendous friend. And I tell you what, I feel bad for him. He has a tremendous team there -- a young, talented team. He had a bunch of injuries there and it's a tough business and I understand the business but I tell you what, Anthony is a tremendous and he'll be coaching somewhere else."
Grant's final win at Alabama came at Texas A&M, a 61-60 upset over a team who was competing for an NCAA tournament bid. That loss, coupled with a setback to Auburn in the SEC tournament sent the Aggies to the NIT along with Alabama.
Texas A&M coach Billy Kennedy's reaction was similar to Anderson's.
"Really disappointed and surprised," he said. "He'd battled injuries this year. They've been good, not great like everybody desires to be but I know when you have injuries like you lose a Ricky Tarrant and you lose the (Shannon) Hale kid and you don't have those guys, it hurts your team and it's a fine line how good you can be when you have to overcome injuries."
Assistant coach John Brannen will coach the Tide (18-14) in Tuesday's NIT opening-round game with Illinois. Brannen said it's been an emotional 24 hours for the staff. LSU's Johnny Jones just called it "disappointing."
"I know the time and energy that Anthony's really put into the program and know what he's trying to do in terms of scheduling to try to satisfy the masses and the league and everyone else to put the league and himself in the best position to possibly be in postseason play," Jones said. "He won a lot of games a couple of years ago and unfortunately his teams did not get in the NCAA tournament. Just a fine gentleman, an outstanding basketball coach and anytime you see something like that, it's certainly a sad day for us."