Ex-Tide player Pettway hired as an assistant coach

TUSCALOOSA | Antoine Pettway, one of the most popular players in recent University of Alabama basketball history, is returning to the Crimson Tide program as an assistant coach.

'I'm really excited about being back at the Capstone,' Pettway said Saturday night.

Pettway will replace Kobie Baker, who will move to an administrative post within the UA athletics department and to concentrate on a family situation.

'I'm excited to come back to a program I love. Alabama basketball has a great tradition and I was proud that I was able to play a role in that as a player,' Pettway said.

'Coach (Mark) Gottfried was always able to bring out the best in me as a player and I look forward to working with him. I also look forward to coaching the players he has in the program now.'

Alabama has always had talented players who work hard, play well and conduct themselves with class.

'It will be hard to leave Jacksonville State and the players there. I have learned so much as a coach at JSU.

'But there's no place like home.'

Pettway has spent the last two seasons as an assistant at Jacksonville State. He was hired by fprmer JSU coach Mike LaPlante in June of 2006 after serving one season as a graduate assistant under Gottfried at UA.

'I am really excited about this hire,' Gottfried said on Saturday night. 'Antoine has been such a great leader in our program. He epitomizes toughness. He epitomizes heart. He's a great addition to our staff.'

His responsibilities at JSU include recruiting, player development, on-floor coaching and other administrative duties.

In his one season on the Crimson Tide's coaching staff, Pettway helped guide Alabama to an NCAA Tournament trip that included a first-round win over Marquette. The Tide finished 18-13 in Pettway's inaugural coaching season and finished second in the Southeastern Conference's Western Division to Final Four participant LSU.

Pettway, a walk-on point guard as a freshman at Alabama in 2000, emerged as the Crimson Tide's starting point guard by his junior season and earned a reputation for hitting game-winning shots for Alabama in several big games.

A 2004 graduate of the University of Alabama with a degree in health care management, Pettway played four seasons for the Crimson Tide and started every game of his senior season at point guard, helping lead Alabama to the school's first-ever trip to the Elite 8 of the NCAA Tournament. His game-winning buzzer-beater in the first round beat Southern Illinois and set up Alabama for its second-round upset of No. 1 Stanford. Pettway also drained the last-second shot against Florida in 2002 that gave the Crimson Tide the Southeastern Conference regular-season title.

Pettway played prep basketball for his father Joseph Pettway at Wilcox-Central High School in Camden, Ala., where he led the Jaguars to the 2000 AHSAA 5A State Championship as a senior. He was also a first-team all-state performer as a senior. He excelled in the classroom at WCHS, where he was salutatorian of his class and his 4.0 GPA landed him an academic scholarship to Alabama.

Prior to his career with the Jaguars, Pettway played for his father at Keith High School, where they won the 1998 state title.