Ennis Whatley
(Joe Songer/jsonger@al.com).
Ellis Whatley, one of 14 Alabama players selected in the first round of the NBA draft, has been named the Tide's representative in the 2016 SEC Men's Basketball Legends class.
Inducted last year into the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame, Whatley spent two seasons with the Tide before leaving for the NBA in 1983 following his sophomore season.
The Birmingham native helped Alabama win the SEC championship and advance to Sweet 16 in the NCAA tournament as a freshman.
Aided by Whatley, the Tide got back to the NCAA tournament in 1983 after again playing in the SEC championship game.
Whatley averaged 15.2 points per game as a sophomore after averaging 12.1 points per game as a freshman.
His 220 assists as a sophomore ranks as the second-most in a single season in school history while his career average of 6.3 assists per game is No. 1 in Alabama history.
The other members of this year's Legends class are: Pat Bradley (Arkansas), Jack Stewart (Auburn), Lee Humphrey (Florida), Jarvis Hayes (Georgia), Larry Conley (Kentucky), Stanley Roberts (LSU), Johnny Neumann (Ole Miss), Mario Austin (Mississippi State), Devan Downey (South Carolina), Vincent Yarbrough (Tennessee), Carroll Broussard (Texas A&M), Shan Foster (Vanderbilt).
Each Legend will be recognized at halftime of his team's first SEC tournament game.
This is the 18th year of the SEC Basketball Legends program.
Past Tide Legends are: Reggie King (1999), Wendell Hudson (2000), T.R. Dunn (2001), Leon Douglas (2002), Buck Johnson (2003), Derrick McKey (2004), Gary Waites (2005), Jim Farmer (2006), Mike Nordholz (2007), Leon Marlaier (2008), Melvin Cheatum (2009), Charles Cleveland (2010), Robert Horry (2011), Jack Kubiszyn (2012), Wimp Sanderson (2013), Eddie Phillips (2014) and C.M. Newton (2015).