BIRMINGHAM — Avery Johnson admits names aren’t his forte. The Alabama basketball coach regularly mispronounces the name of Crimson Tide guard Dazon Ingram, replacing the Z for a J in his first name. Oftentimes Johnson would refer to former forward Bola Olaniyan exclusively by his first name in order to avoid a possible mistake.
* Basketball assistant leaves Georgia to join Johnson with Crimson Tide
Johnson will now have to attempt another unique name after hiring Yasir Rosemond as an assistant coach Monday. Luckily for Johnson, the former Georgia assistant has already presented him with an easier option.
“He told me I can call him Ya because I’m probably going to mess up his name 20 times a day,” Johnson said with at the Regions Tradition Pro-Am on Wednesday.
Johnson might not have mastered Rosemond’s first name, but he’s no stranger to what the assistant will offer to his staff. Rosemond, 40, has spent the last two seasons at Georgia and has also coached at Samford, Seattle and Oregon.
Known for his recruiting prowess, Rosemond helped put together a top-25 recruiting class at Oregon in 2008. There he coached 2007 All-American and nine-year NBA veteran Aaron Brooks.
“We think he helps us in a lot of different ways. Great chemistry with the staff, great people skills,” Johnson said. “(Former Georgia guard) J.J. Frazier tweeted something out about how they had a great relationship, so after you recruit these kids you got to continue to have great relationships with their families, and we think he can do those things.”
Rosemond fills the spot left behind by Bob Simon who was relieved of his duties earlier this month. Johnson admitted Wednesday he wasn’t familiar with Rosemond until recently. The head coach said the decision to make a change on the staff was decided on before the Final Four in March but that he wanted to keep quiet about the decision in order to help Simon land another job.
After composing a list of roughly 15 targets, Alabama identified Rosemond as a leading candidate and was granted permission from Georgia head coach Mark Fox to talk to him about the position.
"He has great work ethic, he had a good run on the Oregon staff and obviously he's familiar with the SEC, familiar with Alabama having coached at Samford,” Johnson said of Rosemond. “They have to check a lot of boxes, and I know everyone talks about recruiting and that's a high percentage of it. But when we're recruiting, even though a guy may have a lead on a recruit, it's all of us pitching in to help.
“We think he's going to help in a lot of different ways and he's off to a great start with the other guys — coach Pelphrey and coach Pettway — both of whom we think are going to be head coaches here in the near future."
Alabama to head north of the border
Johnson also announced Wednesday that Alabama will take part in a preseason tour of Canada that will see the Tide play one game in Montreal and two games in Ottawa. The games will take place between Aug. 4-12 and will mark Alabama’s first foreign tour since 2013 when the Tide played in in Belgium, France and The Netherlands.
"We want to combine this trip being a team-building activity for our team,” Johnson said. “play some games, get some practices in, especially since we have five freshmen and a redshirt, Daniel Giddens, who didn't play last year."
Alabama will bring the nation’s No. 5 recruiting class to Tuscaloosa this summer. The class, which features five-star guards Collin Sexton (No. 7 overall) and John Petty (No. 25 overall), is the Tide’s highest-ranked class in school history.
While the Tide eagerly await the arrival of its prized signees at the end of the month, Johnson is also waiting to receive word on whether or not Freshman All-SEC member Braxton Key will return for his sophomore year next season. Key declared for the NBA Draft without an agent and has until May 24th to withdraw his name and return to school. So far the 6-foot-8 swingman has worked out for one NBA team, the Boston Celtics.
"We're on standby waiting for that decision," Johnson said. "...We'll know what we're dealing with in the next couple days because even if he decides to come back we've encouraged him to make sure he gets in his paperwork early enough so there won't be any glitches."
Alabama excited about Ar'Mond Davis' return
The return of senior guard Ar’Mond Davis has been the worst kept secret at Alabama for quite some time now. During the Tide’s annual banquet last month, guard Dazon Ingram let it slip that Davis was coming back despite announcing his intent to transfer. Last week, Johnson confirmed the news in a radio interview with Tide 102.9 The Game in Tuscaloosa.
Wednesday, Johnson once again addressed the subject, stating he would be glad to welcome back Davis to the program.
“It’s important because we invested a lot in Ar’Mond and he only had one year left and we want to see him graduate from Alabama,” Johnson said. “He had some moments for us on the court last year, so we are looking forward to having everybody on campus and seeing how we can put this team together and help them play to the best of their abilities.”
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