CECIL HURT: Gottfried remains positive as roster continues to dwindle

At one point on Tuesday morning, it sounded like the last manager standing on the men's basketball team needed to sweep up any remaining popcorn in the Coleman Coliseum aisles, dim the lights and lower the goals to half-mast.

It seemed that, with every passing hour, there was news of another University of Alabama basketball player either fleeing the program or planning his escape. Rico Pickett, in harsh words spoken in his hometown newspaper, The Decatur Daily, declared he would never play for Crimson Tide head coach Mark Gottfried again. Then came confirmation that Justin Tubbs, the junior-to-be from Trussville, was planning to transfer to parts unknown as well. Both those announcements came on top of Ronald Steele's scheduled press conference to announce that he, like Richard Hendrix, would test his status in the NBA draft.

As if that wasn't enough, there were all sorts of rumors about other players who might be considering a transfer or, in Alonzo Gee's case, an NBA announcement similar to Steele and Hendrix.

Eventually, the smoke settled. Gottfried didn't talk specifically about anyone transferring, but he did make a couple of interesting comments at the podium alongside Steele.

The first comment prefaced Steele's press conference.

'Before we get started with Ron, I want to make a comment about our team,' Gottfried said. 'I'm really excited about how hard our team is currently working. There is a lot of effort going into correcting some things, so I'm really excited about that. At the same time, if we have a player that feels like he can be happier someplace else, I will support him 100 percent if they chose to pursue another opportunity. I don't really have anything else to say about it right now. Maybe later in the week I will. But again, those guys who are here are doing a great job and if … somebody feels a need to look somewhere else, then I'm going to support them and help them because I want them to be successful.'

Later in the press conference, in answering a question about the future of the Alabama program, Gottfried again stressed team unity — 'oneness,' as he put it.

'We're going to move forward either way with our team and we're going to play as hard as we can play, and we'll do as well as we can do with whomever we have,' he said. 'And we're all going to be together and we're going to have a oneness, a togetherness. If Ron and Richard are here, that will only enhance our situation.'

It's not possible to know exactly what Gottfried was thinking, but the emphasis on 'oneness' was probably a hint.

First, as noted in earlier columns, transfers do happen at all SEC institutions. Mississippi State's Ben Hansborough announced on Tuesday that he was leaving Starkville. Keegan Bell has already announced that he is leaving Vanderbilt. Alabama isn't alone in having players leave.

But that doesn't mean it's a good thing when a highly recruited young point guard like Pickett decides to leave. Since the day his freshman season started, Pickett seemed unhappy. Some people close to the program used the word 'defiant.' That may reflect a strong will, or immaturity, or it may be that the coach isn't doing a good job of communicating. Whatever caused the friction, it was a problem and it might be beneficial to both sides to end it quickly. Bridges seem to have been burned, at both ends.

In the case of Tubbs, the issue was almost certainly what the issue usually is — playing time. It does happen. That doesn't mean it is a good thing. It is not a good thing when half of a six-man recruiting class is gone after two years, with all three departures citing a lack of playing time. That's what has happened to Alabama's rising junior class, and it speaks of some misevaluation somewhere. A basketball team can overcome losing two players (especially two young guards) but it can't take a steady diet of recruiting misfires.

Whatever the ramifications of the departure of Pickett and Tubbs, the immediate (2009) future of the Alabama program will probably be settled from May 27 to June 3. That's when the NBA Pre-Draft Camp takes place in Orlando, and that's when Steele, and Hendrix, and maybe even Gee, will decide whether to risk the draft or return for their senior seasons. There is a reasonable chance – not a certainty, but a distinct possibility -- that all three will return. If they do, surrounded by players like Senario Hillman, Brandon Hollinger and others, plus the incoming freshman class, Alabama will be as talented as any team in the SEC – maybe beyond -- and expectations will be high.

The 2009 season will be a watershed for Alabama, one that will likely determine the direction of the program for the following decade. There are already plenty of opinions on how the 2009 season will play out. There were plenty of negative opinions in the forefront on Tuesday and perhaps the flurry of activity was a rumbling along a fault line that will split wide open in the next 11 months. Gottfried, on the other hand, was his usual relentlessly positive self, and if he was concerned, he didn't show it.

At the moment, it's too early to tell if Tuesday's shakeup was the first sign of an earthquake — or just a momentary tremor.

Cecil Hurt is sports editor of The Tuscaloosa News. Reach him at cecil.hurt@tuscaloosanews.com or 205-722-0225.