My recollection is that Anthony Grant was one of the hottest young coaches in 2008 after his first two years at VCU as head coach with many targeting him to replace Crean..... and a decade later he is a National COY.
We pass on Grant and he goes on to take the Alabama job replacing Mark Gottfried that resigned mid season after a decade with 5 NCAA appearances and couple league championships. Gottfried could never live up to the Wimp Sanderson era expectations (same number of NCAA tourney appearances as AL).
Back to Anthony Grant... He leads Alabama for six seasons which peaked in year two(conf champ), year 3(NCAA appearance) and averaging 20 wins a year over his tenure. My guess many scoopers potentially led by MDG would have moved on with that performance which is not unreasonable.
Story continues...Alabama moves on and swings for the fences with Avery Johnson for nearly $3 million a year and a negotiated buyout of $5.5 million for a 75-62 record in return. Next up, Nate Oats for $2.5 million a year with a modest $ 8 million buyout to restore the program to at least Gottfried level. It's only a year with a 16-15 record and just a bit behind Johnson's 18-15 year one start.
Back to Anthony Grant....Back home at Dayton(alma mater) and off to a slow start in year 1 at 14-17 following up with 21-12 in year 2 and 29-3 in year 3....Obi Toppin NPOY his recruit but without NCAA tourney the final grade in INC..I understand its the AAC like many will debate..
The Buzz Era turned out fine on the court. Yet, the Alabama coaching carousel has some interesting parallels MU post the Wimp Sanderson Era of success. Perhaps, Alabama was to impatient with Grant and made the investment with no return. Perhaps they cut their losses because it was a bad fit.
