http://www.cw.ua.edu/vnews/display.v/ART/2004/04/08/4074dd206581b
Season belonged to Antoine Pettway >From Way Downtown Charlie Gasner April 08, 2004 Antoine Pettway is an autograph machine. These days, he has to be, if he wants half a chance at eating. Most of Alabama's players were able to move around enough to get a soda and a hors d'oeuvre at Tuesday night's Tide Pride/Tuscaloosa Tip-Off Club awards reception. Not Pettway. Chuck Davis had a handful of Sports Illustrated covers to sign, but Pettway was a human Department of Motor Vehicles. Want to talk to the senior point guard? Get in line. Wait. Everyone and their adorable 5-year-old child had something for Pettway to autograph. Basketballs. Pictures. Shoes. The guy was a leaf blower and a ratchet wrench away from putting his signature on one of everything in your dad's garage. "You're the best point guard we've had here since T.R. Dunn," said one well-wisher. "I'm sure I'll see you here again as Alabama's coach," said another fan. Coach Pettway? There's an interesting idea. "I don't know [about coaching]," Pettway said. "That's sort of stressful." Point taken. Coaching - that's stressful. Tie game at Georgia with three seconds left? That's easy. Down three at Arkansas on the last possession of regulation? Piece of cake. Needing a basket to avoid elimination in the first round of the NCAA Tournament? Cash money. If this dude says he thinks something's stressful, you'd better believe him. "Alabama will be able to replace [Pettway] in the first 38 minutes of a game," Alabama assistant coach Tom Asbury said. "But in the last couple of minutes ... he's a special guy when the game is on the line." How close did Alabama come to missing the NCAA Tournament? At Georgia, the Bulldogs and Crimson Tide scuffed their way out to 42 points each before Pettway stuck a 3-pointer in the waning seconds of the game. At Arkansas, Pettway hit another 3 to send the game to overtime. At Auburn, Emmett Thomas hit the free throws that put Alabama ahead, but it was Pettway's floater on the previous possession that put Thomas in position to take the lead. How close did Alabama come to a one-and-done NCAA Tournament? With the game almost over and the shot clock off, Pettway took the ball into the lane, sidestepped a few Southern Illinois defenders and threw up a teardrop six-footer that kept the season going. It'll go down in history as Alabama's first Elite Eight run. But without Pettway, it's probably a field-of-65 run. Or an NIT run. So on one hand, Alabama only loses one starter this year. On the other, he just happens to be the heart of the team. "There's no replacing Antoine," Davis said. "He's done so much. Our guys have to step up and take command of the team like he's done these past four years." Pettway's time in a Crimson Tide uniform is up. After four years in college, he's graduating with a degree in health care management in May. But if he has it his way, he won't be putting that degree to use anytime soon. "I'll weigh my options," Pettway said. "I want to play professionally." What kind of professional league would pick up a basketball player who's listed very generously at 6 feet tall, an outside shooter whose 3-point shot looks like a gymnastics routine, and a point guard who doesn't throw flashy behind-the-back passes or slam highlight-reel dunks? "The NBA, I hope," Pettway said. So what if Pettway's name doesn't pop up on the mock drafts? No one thought he could play college ball, either. Alabama coach Mark Gottfried only discovered Pettway when he went to check out another player. He didn't have a scholarship for Pettway, but Pettway walked on for a year and earned a scholarship anyway. "He made a choice to come to Alabama and was determined to prove to our staff and everybody that he belonged there," Gottfried said. "And he quickly did that." He isn't flashy, but he's as steady as they come - he averaged just 1.5 turnovers in 33 minutes per game this year. His assist-to-turnover ratio was the best in the SEC. His 3-point shot won't win any awards for form, but basketball players aren't scored on form. All that matters is he hit 39.1 percent of those trifectas in the past four years, good for sixth on the school's all-time list. He's probably closer to 5 feet 10 inches than 6 feet tall, but it's not as if he'll be asked to guard Yao Ming. After an NCAA Tournament win, Gottfried called Pettway "The Little Engine That Could." Pettway still thinks he can. Would you bet against him? Charlie Gasner is sports editor of The Crimson White. ______________________________________________________ RollTideFan - The University of Alabama Athletics Discussion List "Welcome to RollTideFan! Wear a cup!" To join or leave the list or to make changes to your subscription visit http://listinfo.rolltidefan.net
