1982–83 Alabama Crimson Tide men's basketball team

The 1982–83 Alabama Crimson Tide men's basketball team represented the University of Alabama in the 1982–83 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team's head coach was Wimp Sanderson, who was in his third season at Alabama. The team played their home games at Coleman Coliseum in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. They finished the season 18–12, 8–10 in SEC play, and finished in a tie for eighth place.

1982–83 Alabama Crimson Tide men's basketball
NCAA tournament, First Round
Conference	Southeastern Conference
Record	20–12 (8–10 SEC)
Head coach	Wimp Sanderson (3rd season)
Home arena	Coleman Coliseum
Seasons ← 1981–82 1983–84 →

1982–83 Southeastern Conference men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
No. 12 Kentucky	13	–	5		.722			23	–	8		.742
LSU	10	–	8		.556			19	–	13		.594
Ole Miss	10	–	8		.556			19	–	12		.613
Vanderbilt	9	–	9		.500			19	–	14		.576
Mississippi State	9	–	9		.500			17	–	12		.586
No. 18 Georgia †	9	–	9		.500			24	–	10		.706
Tennessee	9	–	9		.500			20	–	12		.625
Auburn	8	–	10		.444			15	–	13		.536
Alabama	8	–	10		.444			20	–	12		.625
Florida	5	–	13		.278			13	–	18		.419
† 1983 SEC tournament winner Rankings from AP Poll

The key freshman signee was forward Alphonso "Buck" Johnson from Hayes High School in Birmingham, Alabama.

It was an odd year for Sanderson and the Tide. They opened the season with eight consecutive wins, including a victory over Patrick Ewing and 10th ranked Georgetown, who had reached the NCAA Finals the season before. Once conference play began, the Tide struggled, notably losing to Vanderbilt and Ole Miss each twice. Even so, the Tide still managed to post wins over nationally ranked Kentucky (#3) and top-ranked UCLA (the latter notably occurring two days after legendary football coach Bear Bryant's death).

The Tide reached the SEC tournament final and lost to Georgia. They received an at-large bid to the 1983 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, and lost in the first round to Lamar.^[1]

Roster

1982–83 Alabama Crimson Tide men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown G 3 Ennis Whatley 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) — So Phillips High School Birmingham, Alabama F/C 34 Bobby Lee Hurt 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) — So Butler High School Huntsville, Alabama F 24 Buck Johnson 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) — Fr Hayes High School Birmingham, Alabama G 44 Mike Davis 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) — Sr Fayette High School Fayette, Alabama F 33 Cliff Windham 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) — Sr Livingston High School Emelle, Alabama G 11 Eric Richardson 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) — Jr Carver High School Birmingham, Alabama F Eugene Jones 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) — Sr G Vance Wheeler 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) — Sr F 41 Terry Williams 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) — Jr Elkmont High School Elkmont, Alabama G 23 Rex Jones 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) — So Bradshaw High School Florence, Alabama C 51 Mark Farmer 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) — So Arab High School Arab, Alabama F 21 Jim Farmer 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) — RS Fr Houston Academy Dothan, Alabama	Head coach Wimp Sanderson Assistant coach(es) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	Site city, state
Regular season
Nov 29, 1982*	No. 12	Middle Tennessee State	W 103–58	1–0	Coleman Coliseum  Tuscaloosa, Alabama
Dec 4, 1982*	No. 13	vs. Texas Tech	W 74–53	2–0
Dec 6, 1982*	No. 11	SMU	W 74–56	3–0	Coleman Coliseum  Tuscaloosa, Alabama
Dec 11, 1982*	No. 11	at Penn State	W 74–65	4–0	Rec Hall  University Park, Pennsylvania
Dec 18, 1982*	No. 10	Louisiana Tech	W 88–73	5–0	Coleman Coliseum  Tuscaloosa, Alabama
Dec 20, 1982*	No. 8	Texas Southern	W 88–58	6–0	Coleman Coliseum  Tuscaloosa, Alabama
Dec 28, 1982*	No. 6	at USC Winston Tire Classic	W 74–61	7–0	L.A. Sports Arena  Los Angeles, California
Dec 29, 1982*	No. 6	vs. No. 10 Georgetown Winston Tire Classic	W 94–73	8–0	L.A. Sports Arena (10,940) Los Angeles, California
Jan 3, 1983	No. 5	at Florida	L 85–89	8–1 (0–1)	Stephen C. O'Connell Center  Gainesville, Florida
Jan 5, 1983	No. 5	at Auburn	L 80–91	8–2 (0–2)	Beard-Eaves-Memorial Coliseum  Auburn, Alabama
Jan 8, 1983	No. 5	No. 3 Kentucky	W 74–67	9–2 (1–2)	Coleman Coliseum  Tuscaloosa, Alabama
Jan 11, 1983	No. 10	Vanderbilt	L 79–81	9–3 (1–3)	Coleman Coliseum  Tuscaloosa, Alabama
Jan 15, 1983	No. 10	at Georgia	L 64–67	9–4 (1–4)	Stegeman Coliseum  Athens, Georgia
Jan 18, 1983		at Tennessee	L 64–73	9–5 (1–5)	Stokely Athletic Center  Knoxville, Tennessee
Jan 28, 1983*		at No. 1 UCLA	W 70–67	11–6	Pauley Pavilion (12,574) Los Angeles, California
Mar 6, 1983		Auburn	W 86–78	17–10 (8–10)	Coleman Coliseum  Tuscaloosa, Alabama
SEC Tournament
Mar 10, 1983*		vs. Auburn First Round	W 62–61	18–10	Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center  Birmingham, Alabama
Mar 11, 1983*		vs. No. 10 Kentucky Quarterfinals	W 69–64	19–10	Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center  Birmingham, Alabama
Mar 12, 1983*		vs. Mississippi State Semifinals	W 51–50	20–10	Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center  Birmingham, Alabama
Mar 13, 1983*		vs. Georgia Championship game	L 71–86	20–11	Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center  Birmingham, Alabama
NCAA Tournament
Mar 17, 1983*	(6 MW)	vs. (11 MW) Lamar	L 50–73	20–12	The Summit  Houston, Texas
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.

Rankings

Main article: 1982–83 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings

^[2]