Ronald Steele didn't look the same in Orlando last June at the pre-draft camp. He wasn't as quick. He looked hesitant. He was clearly still recovering, as expected, from not playing competitive basketball for over a year after knee injuries.
Ultimately that's why Steele didn't stay in the NBA draft. He knew he wasn't ready to be a first, let alone second-round draft pick. So he returned to Alabama for his fifth year in Tuscaloosa and, in a unique twist, will play this season with his brother, Andrew Steele, who arrived last month for his freshman season.
The good news for Steele, and Alabama, is that he is apparently showing no signs that he isn't the same player from his junior season in 2006 when Steele was a solid starter at point guard for the Tide, averaging four assists a game and earning All-SEC honors.
Steele's return to the court during individual workouts at Alabama over the past few weeks has given Tide coach Mark Gottfried renewed optimism for this season.
The Tide will start this week, just like everyone else, with full-team workouts. Teams are allowed to have full-team workouts for two hours a week beginning Monday and running through the first official practice on Oct. 17.
"He doesn't look gimpy at all,"
Gottfried said Monday on his way back to Tuscaloosa after recruiting the past few days. "He's 100 percent healthy."
But Gottfried cautioned himself a bit on getting too excited about Steele until he sees him in games. Steele sat out last season because of the two knee surgeries he had in 2007.
"He needs to play games -- that's what he needs now,"
Gottfried said. "But he is playing more loose [than he did at the Orlando pre-draft camp]."
Gottfried is cautiously optimistic about the Tide. Alabama has a bit of an undercard billing in the Maui Invitational with heavy-hitting top 10 teams North Carolina, Notre Dame and Texas, which could be a top 10 team sooner than later once the season begins.
Gottfried likes the role of being a bit of an unknown. Richard Hendrix decided to stay in the draft rather than return for his senior season and his departure seemed to have lowered expectations on this team.
But the Tide have a freshman gem in 6-foot-9 JaMychal Green, who was a stud on the U-18 USA silver medal team that lost to host Argentina in July. Sophomore forward Justin Knox and junior Demetrius Jemison should help offset the loss of Hendrix, too. Although Gottfried said you can't dismiss the potential Hendrix would have had as a 20-point, eight-rebound performer.
Still, this will be a guard-oriented team with Steele as the point man, Alonzo Gee, who also declared for the draft and withdrew, on the wing, and a trio of players in sophomore Senario Hillman, senior Brandon Hollinger and the younger Steele. Gottfried said he fully expects the Steeles to play together at times, but Andrew still has to earn his way up the ladder.
Ronald Steele and Gee haven't shown any issues with returning to Alabama instead of being in the NBA. Gottfried said both players are proving to be the leaders during workouts and aren't bitter about being back in school instead of getting paid (although it's arguable that they would have received any money since neither may have been drafted and wouldn't have received a guaranteed contract).
"I'm excited about this team,"
Gottfried said. "I think we could have a really good year."
The SEC West is completely open with every team in the division possessing plenty of faults. No one is the clear favorite. That gives the Tide even more hope that they can turn around a program that hit a rough patch last season in missing the postseason with a 17-16 record, 5-11 in the SEC West.
"But we will be [better] later in the season,"
Gottfried said. "Hillman will be better. Knox will be better. JaMychal will be better later in the season."
That doesn't mean Alabama won't be a surprise in Maui. But the Tide is worth riding a bit early in the season to see if a healthy Steele and a star in the waiting in Green is enough to carry them through their nonconference slate and into a successful SEC West run.
