TUSCALOOSA -- Anthony Grant assuredly speaks of his "vision" for Alabama's basketball program as something tangible, a destiny that's merely a matter of time.
Why? He's already seen it happen.
"My vision is the same vision that Billy Donovan had 13 years ago when he decided to go to the University of Florida," Grant said. "People told him that Florida was a football school. It couldn't be done there in basketball. There was a commitment from the top all the way through that organization that it could be done."
It was with a nod to history that Grant, the former Virginia Commonwealth coach who spent 10 seasons as an assistant under Donovan at Florida, took the reins today to direct the future of Alabama basketball.
During his introductory press conference, Grant captivated the room and filled in the blanks of the final week of the Crimson Tide's search to replace Mark Gottfried. He said he called UA executive director of athletics Dave Hart around 10 a.m. Friday to accept the job after interviewing twice and mulling Alabama's offer for 24 hours.
That Thursday wasn't simple. The Kentucky job was about to come open. Florida could have in play, had his close friend Donovan been looking, and other schools, like Georgia or Virginia could have easily sought out Grant, one of the nation's top mid-major coaches.
Alabama thought so, too.
"You just had a feeling," UA athletics director Mal Moore said, "the more you researched him, that he was the perfect package for us. We targeted him. He's the only coach I talked to."
All the while, Grant kept coming back to Alabama, the school that wanted him and him alone, placing "Their faith and trust in me being the guy that they wanted to lead this program."
In the end, Grant spelled it out to Anthony Jr., his 13-year old son.
"The opportunity to be significant," Grant said, "to accomplish some things that had not been accomplished, to sort of blaze your own trail as compared to maybe some other opportunities that, I think, the media and really everybody may have thought would have been attractive and maybe something that caused us pause."
Grant acknowledged his role as the program's first-ever African-American head coach as something "I don't take lightly."
"My commitment, my belief in this university is extremely strong," Grant said. "This is my first choice. This is where I want to be. This is where I think we can do some special things."
Before the evening press conference, Grant met with his new players for the first time and established a theme for what he seeks in the future. As forward JaMychal Green described it, "He was all-business."
"The biggest thing probably was, 'We're going to work hard,'" guard Mikhail Torrance said. "That kind of intimidated some of us, but we're going to win. That was the most important thing. We had a couple of jokes for him, but at the end of the day we're going to win."
Grant expressed the same sentiment.
"I think they understand it's going to be a lot of fun," he said, "but they also understand it's going to take a lot of work. They're going to be asked to push themselves to different levels that right now they don't know."
*** Grant said he has yet to make any decisions about his coaching staff for the coming season, but added that VCU's head coaching search will play a role. Tony Pujol, an assistant for Grant this past season, is a candidate to replace him in charge of the Rams.
"Right now, it's just going to be a situation where I've got to see how things play out there," Grant said. "I've got to evaluate exactly what our needs are here at Alabama."
Sources have said VCU assistants John Brannen and Allen Edwards will likely join Grant at Alabama. Grant also said he will speak soon with each of the remaining assistants from Gottfried's staff, including interim coach Philip Pearson.
"I have a tremendous amount of respect for the job that they did given their situation and their history with this university," Grant said.
*** The university has not released terms of Grant's new contact as negotiations are still pending between the two sides.
"I don't want to give you something that we negotiate up or down," Moore said.
Sources have said that Grant's deal could be worth nearly $2 million per year with incentives. The total will likely be close to $1.8 million annually.
*** Moore wouldn't pin himself down to reports that a basketball practice facility renovation or new facility was part of Grant's deal.
He didn't deny them, either.
"Facilities are constant upgrades, change this, change that," Moore said. "We're going to do what we need to do. I assure you that."
*** Grant's former boss and close friend Donovan, the coach at Florida, advised him that Alabama "was a great job," according to Grant.
"Without question," Grant said, "he felt like, based on the outside view looking in, it was a wonderful opportunity."
