Alabama's Avery Johnson making a case for SEC coach of the year

The basketball program with the longest current winning streak in the SEC at three straight victories was picked to finish 13th in the 14-team conference.

The program with more wins over ranked opponents this season than anyone else in the SEC hasn't taken down four ranked teams in a season in 14 years.

The program that's put itself in position two weeks into February to make a late postseason push hasn't played in the NCAA Tournament in four years and hasn't won a game there in a decade.

Is there any question Alabama's Avery Johnson deserves serious consideration for SEC coach of the year in his first year on the job?

No, there isn't because no one in the league, to this point, has done more with less.

The latest evidence came Wednesday night in a 63-62 upset of No. 15 Texas A&M in Coleman Coliseum. The Aggies joined Wichita State, Notre Dame and South Carolina on the list of ranked teams Alabama has beaten.

How good are those teams?

Wichita State is 18-6 overall and 12-1 to lead the Missouri Valley Conference. Notre Dame is 18-7 and 8-4, a game and a half out of first place in the ACC. South Carolina (21-3, 8-3) is tied for first place in the SEC, and A&M (18-6, 7-4) is tied for fourth.

Alabama, at 14-9 overall and 5-6 in the league, is only three games out of first place with seven games left.

If that doesn't impress you, look at the roster. Notice it's missing the top three scorers from last season, and graduate transfer guard Arthur Edwards is the only newcomer among the top five scorers this season.

Since promising freshman point guard Dazon Ingram was lost for the year to a broken foot in early December, Edwards is the only healthy newcomer who's started a game. That means Johnson and his staff have done a terrific job of developing the players they inherited.

Retin Obasohan is a legitimate All-SEC candidate. The senior guard is the first Alabama player to earn SEC player of the week honors twice in the same season since Kennedy Winston in 2004-05.

Obasohan and sophomore swingman Riley Norris are two of the players getting much closer to their ceilings under Johnson than they did before he arrived.

There's another way to measure how much progress Johnson's made in his first season as the Alabama basketball coach. Two weeks into February, you can suggest the overachieving Crimson Tide is playing its way toward the NCAA Tournament bubble and not get laughed out of the room.

ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi lists Alabama today as the second team on his "Next Four Out" list.

Let that reality sink in for a moment.

ESPN's latest daily RPI rankings have Alabama at No. 39, thanks to quality wins over current No. 24 Texas A&M, No. 25 Notre Dame, No. 26 South Carolina and No. 41 Wichita State. According to ESPN, Alabama has only one bad loss to a team ranked outside the top 100 at No. 129 Auburn.

The remaining schedule provides plenty of opportunities for more quality wins: At Florida on Saturday, at LSU next Wednesday and at Kentucky on Feb. 23.

It's not likely this team has enough firepower to win enough games down the stretch to earn an NCAA at-large bid, but who thought it possible the Crimson Tide could take down the teams it has to date?

One thing isn't in dispute. There's an energy and excitement around Alabama basketball that hasn't existed in years. There's a sense that this coaching staff is squeezing virtually every last drop out of the talent on hand - the Tide's 5-1 in one-possession games - and there's an understanding that quality reinforcements are on the way in the recruiting classes to come.

Getting this team into the NIT would be an accomplishment. It also might earn Johnson the SEC coach of the year award. That trophy would be a nice bookend to the hardware he earned as NBA coach of the year.

He'd be the only coach in history with one of each.

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