A few staples come to mind when someone brings up the South.
Sweet tea pitchers and rocking chairs swaying on wraparound porches. Churches spackling small-town streets from corner to corner. Last, but certainly not least, sleeping tight after a win under the Friday night lights for the local high school football team, only to wake up and sweat it out for college alma maters on Saturday.
In my hometown of Great Falls, South Carolina, all of those things rang true — but we did things a little bit differently than other one-stoplight towns. What more could you expect from a place nicknamed “Flopeye”?
Although we rooted for the boys of fall, people around my parts lived for the winter, when the 11-time state champion Red Devils hit the floor for basketball. For me, not much has changed, which is why I’m so excited for my latest journey covering Alabama basketball for The Tuscaloosa News and the USA TODAY Sports Network.
Don’t get me wrong. I know that in Alabama, it’s eat, sleep, breathe football. I figured that out after learning that Alabamians could also be known as “Blazers,” “Bammers” or “Barners” based on their alliances while doing research about the place I’ll now call home.
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In turn, you’ll see my bylines for Crimson Tide football, too, backing up my talented colleagues Chase Goodbread, Colin Gay and Anna Snyder. As a girl whose dad decided that a Clemson cheerleader uniform was a bigger necessity than a baby blanket and that I’d learn my ABCs to the band’s “Cadence Count,” I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t stoked to still be on the sidelines.
However, my biggest hope is that my coverage will remind readers of The Tuscaloosa News of the pageantry and tradition that follows Alabama basketball. Not just the 18 national championships or “The Other Five” over 121 seasons of football.
With Nate Oats’ team returning from the program’s first-ever Final Four run, there’s no better season than this one to remember who and what’s built Alabama men’s basketball into what it’s become. To uncover lost lore about Crimson Tide legends like Wimp Sanderson, Mark Gottfried, Ennis Whatley or Reggie “The Mule” King, and what we have yet to know from 25 NCAA tournament appearances and the ones to come.
That being said, I couldn’t be more grateful for the opportunity to find stories present and past that have gone untold, and give a new spin to those you know and love.
So don’t be a stranger. My inbox is open on X (@emilee_smarr). I want to learn about my new beat from the eyes of the fans, so consider this an invitation to send me a message: whether it’s a fond memory of Alabama basketball, a tip on a recruit, thoughts on the 2024-25 season or just to say hello. You’ll see in my social media bio that I’m a Clemson alum — and I reported on Tigers football during the team’s playoff runs from 2018 to 2021 — but no need to fear. I only bite if it’s a good story.
After the last three years covering high school sports for the Palm Beach Post in sweltering South Florida, I have to admit I can’t wait to trade the sparkling cerulean seas that accompany my Jupiter address for Tuscaloosa and waking up to the sounds of game day at Bryant-Denny Stadium.
Reporting on the second coming on Tiger Woods is cool and all, but I will gladly take being able to wear sweaters and having four seasons instead of one. Especially when the move is being made to write about one of the most iconic athletic cultures in all of sports.
Emilee Smarr covers Alabama men’s basketball and Crimson Tide athletics for the Tuscaloosa News. She can be reached via email at esmarr@gannett.com.
