Report: Avery Johnson has Verbally Agreed to be Alabama's New Head Coach
By Rob Perez
You see what I did there? I said “Alabama’s New Head Coach” and didn’t specify basketball, so you would think something happened to Nick Saban and you would click. LOL.
Ok, anyways, moving on… Alabama Athletics Director Bill Battle interviewed Avery Johnson yesterday for the position, and things reportedly went so well — “talks are expected to progress Sunday,” sources told AL.com.
Johnson is currently celebrating Easter at church with his family, per AL.com, and the school hopes to make it official by the late afternoon.
It’s been exactly three weeks since Anthony Grant was fired as Alabama’s Head Coach, and approximately four days since Wichita State’s Gregg Marshall turned down Bill Battle’s offer. I’m starting to get the feeling like Alabama is in in “Two O’Clock Scramble” mode at the bar, right now, and is trying to hook up with anyone that will fill the void.
Is this the right fit? How will Avery do? Johnson, 50, has never coached college basketball — but, was the fastest coach to reach 100 wins, when he was at the helm of the Dallas Mavericks during the mid-2000s. In addition, Avery won a Western Conference title in 2006 — and was a recipient of the “NBA Coach of the Year” honor the same season. Overall: Avery’s NBA coaching record is 440 Wins 254 Losses — split between seven seasons with the Mavericks and Nets.
Even though he’s got the credentials of any successful head coach, hard to look past the fact that Avery has been out of coaching — since the Nets fired him 28 games into the 2012-13 season. Thus, only time will tell if this was the right hire…
Stay tuned for further updates.