ALABAMA at UT BKC
Alabama assistant coach John Brannen will be the Tide's interim coach after Anthony Grant was fired.
(Vasha Hunt/vhunt@al.com)
As Alabama prepares for its NIT opener, it now officially has an interim coach.
Assistant John Brannen will lead the Crimson Tide in the 8 p.m. CT Tuesday game with Illinois in Coleman Coliseum. He'll take over on an interim basis after coach Anthony Grant was fired Sunday after six seasons with the program.
"Yesterday was a very emotional day and still is for our entire team and for our coaching staff," Brannen said on Monday's SEC coaches teleconference. "Let me say this, our loyalty as a coaching staff is to coach Grant. I'm on the phone with you today because coach had asked us to continue to push forward, that the young men wanted to play in the NIT. So that's what I'm doing."
Brannen has been a member of Grant's staff nine years dating back to their time at VCU. Before that, he was an assistant at St. Bonaventure after three seasons in the same role at Eastern Kentucky. After the 2013 season, Brannen was reportedly a candidate for the head coaching job at Tennessee-Chattanooga.
A news conference is scheduled for 1 p.m. in Tuscaloosa.
Alabama (18-14) will face Illinois (19-13) in the opening round of the NIT on Tuesday. The Tide is the No. 6 seed in the region, but will host since third-seeded Illinois' arena is being renovated.