Tag: sonny smith

Charles Barkley says that Auburn and Alabama fans will put aside feuds during March Madness

Some rivalries are bigger than conference pride. The Auburn-Alabama rivalry is a prime example.

The rivalry between Auburn and Alabama has always been fierce on the gridiron but has seen a revival on the hardwood in recent years.

The battle between teams coached by [autotag]Bruce Pearl[/autotag] and Nate Oats on the court, as well as the hardwood, over the last four years have brought new energy to the rivalry in a similar fashion as the old clashes between [autotag]Sonny Smith[/autotag] and Wimp Sanderson projected during the 1980s.

As the calendar shifts to March, both Auburn and Alabama will open the NCAA Tournament at Legacy Arena in Birmingham on Thursday. Since both teams will remain in-state to begin the NCAA Tournament, one Auburn legend suggests that fans of both programs will come together to support one another through March Madness.

In a zoom call on Monday, former Tiger [autotag]Charles Barkley[/autotag] says that now postseason play has begun, Auburn fans will cheer for Alabama, and that Alabama fans will return the favor.

“Listen this ain’t football so I think the Alabama-Auburn fans are going to be rooting for each other, that’s just my personal opinion. Alabama and Auburn, we hate them in football and they hate us. When you get to the arena as an Auburn fan, if Alabama is playing you’re going to root for them more than likely. Same thing, I think Alabama fans are going to root for Auburn.”

Auburn enters the NCAA Tournament as the No. 9 seed in the Midwest Region and will open their run toward the Final Four on Thursday evening against No. 8 seed Iowa. As for Alabama, the Crimson Tide grabbed the overall No. 1 seed in the South Region.

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Former Alabama coach shares failed attempt to sign Charles Barkley

Wimp Sanderson’s top recruiting tactic was no factor to Barkley.

It is obvious how much Auburn University means to former Tiger and NBA legend Charles Barkley.  His love for everything orange and blue dates back to his time as a high school student when he was being recruited heavily by [autotag]Sonny Smith[/autotag] as well as former Alabama head coach Wimp Sanderson.

Smith and Sanderson had many great battles on the court in the 1980s, but one of Smith’s greatest victories over Sanderson came on the recruiting trail.

In an episode of Southern Hoops, A History of SEC Basketball on SEC Network, Sanderson recalls his attempt to lure [autotag]Charles Barkley[/autotag] to Tuscaloosa. Apparently, the Leeds native did not see distance as a factor between Auburn and Alabama.

“I’m not recruiting Charles too hard, but my assistant looked at me and said ‘we need to go look at him,” Sanderson said. “I said to (Charles), ‘Charles, you come to a game at Alabama — 7:00 or 1:00 in the afternoon, you’ll be home in an hour, 15 minutes. You go to Auburn, your mother won’t get home until 2, or 3:00 in the morning. The grandmother is in the room adjacent to it but she’s listening to everything going on. She hollers in there and said ‘it’s just as close to Auburn over the mountain!”

In a recent episode of the All The Smoke podcast with Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson, Barkley said that choosing Auburn was the best decision he could have made because they gave him the opportunity to play.

“Your number one criteria for when you’re deciding where you’re going to go to college is playing time. If you go, especially if you go way somewhere away, if you don’t get to play, it’s going to be a miserable experience. It’s going to be awful. Your schoolwork is going to suck. You’re going to be homesick. Auburn gave me an opportunity to play. I got to play right away as a freshman. It was three good years, and I loved it.”

Barkley played in 1,073 professional games over a 16-year NBA career. He averaged a double-double over his career, scoring an average of 22.1 points per game and pulling down 11.7 rebounds per contest.

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Neville Arena set to host ESPN’s College Gameday for Auburn’s showdown with Alabama

This will mark the third time in program history that Auburn has hosted ESPN’s premier College Basketball pregame show.

There’s no doubt that the rivalry unofficially dubbed The Iron Bowl of Basketball has become intense over the last several seasons.

The basketball edition of the rivalry between Auburn and Alabama provided many entertaining battles between Auburn’s [autotag]Sonny Smith[/autotag] and Alabama’s Wimp Sanderson during the 1980s, those games have intensified now that [autotag]Bruce Pearl[/autotag] and Nates Oats are leading their respective programs.

The first meeting between these two top 25 squads is set to take place at Neville Arena on Saturday, February 11, and ESPN’s premier college basketball pregame show will be on-site to celebrate the occasion.

ESPN has announced that College Gameday will pay a visit to Auburn for Feb. 11’s showdown between No. 25 Auburn and No. 4 Alabama. The show hosted by Rece Davis, Jay Bilas, LaPhonso Ellis, and Seth Greenberg will visit Auburn for the third time in history, the two previous visits have taken place since the 2019-20 season.

Auburn is 2-0 in games where College Gameday has visited campus. In 2020, the Tigers defeated Kentucky, 75-66 behind [autotag]Sahmir Doughty[/autotag]’s 23-point outing. Auburn hosted College Gameday again last season as the nation’s No. 1 team. [autotag]Allen Flanigan[/autotag] scored 16 points while [autotag]Walker Kessler[/autotag] recorded a double-double in Auburn’s 75-58 victory over Texas A&M.

ESPN’s College Gameday will air on Feb. 11 from Neville Arena from 10-11 a.m. CT, with tipoff between the Tigers and Crimson Tide set for 1 p.m. CT.

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