With help from a masterly young guard orchestrating at the point, the Tide's rock-steady anchor is ready to go from unknown to unstoppable

By Phil Taylor

Lord of the boards Dudley (35) is hoping to expand his offensive range. Manny Millan ENEMY LINES An opposing coach's view "The best thing they have going for them is Erwin Dudley's leadership. He's such a warrior. But they don't have a lot of depth, especially inside, so you want to go at Dudley and try to get him in foul trouble. ... Mo Williams is just a big-time guard. His Achilles' heel is that he's not a great shooter, but he pushes all the right buttons on offense. ... Terrance Meade is a good shooter who makes it hard to double down on Dudley. ... Freshman forward Kennedy Winston is a great athlete who shoots it well. He'll have some hurdles to jump as a first-year guy, but the experienced guys around him will help. ... Their biggest question mark is, Who takes the big shot? Last season it was Rod Grizzard. It could turn out to be Dudley, but you can neutralize a guy in the post easier than someone on the wing."

It's not often that the reigning SEC player of the year lacks name recognition, but even the most dedicated hoophead might be hard-pressed to identify the current titleholder, Alabama center-forward Erwin Dudley. Although he helped lead the Crimson Tide to the conference championship and the second round of the NCAA tournament in 2001-02, Dudley is still about as likely to be recognized outside Tuscaloosa as Charles Barkley is to get an invitation to join Augusta National.

But Alabama's opponents have come to know and respect Dudley, a 6'8", 260-pound senior who last year averaged 15.2 points and 8.9 rebounds in quiet, workmanlike fashion. "He's a very underappreciated player," says Kentucky coach Tubby Smith. "He's the type that coaches notice more than fans because he's not flashy, he's just solid and smart."

The key to Dudley's no-frills game is his strength in the low post, using muscle developed working on his family's farm in tiny Uniontown, Ala. (pop. 3,400). He won't win any slam-dunk contests, but he's adept at establishing position and finishing around the basket, as evidenced by his 55.6% field goal shooting last season. In keeping with his low profile, Dudley didn't spend the summer playing on a national team or making the rounds of shoe-company-sponsored camps. He simply went to the gym and worked on his skills. If he achieved his goal of adding a more accurate mid-range jumper to his impressive post-up game, he could be unstoppable.

The Crimson Tide lost last year's second-leading scorer, guard Rod Grizzard, to the NBA, but with Dudley manning the inside with senior Kenny Walker, and sophomore point guard Mo Williams, a budding star, operating in the backcourt with senior shooting guard Terrance Meade, coach Mark Gottfried has an experienced, battle-tested team. If the Tide can make it past the tournament's first weekend, Dudley may finally get the recognition he's due -- not that it matters much to him. "If people don't know who I am, that's fine with me," he says. "I'm not trying to become famous." In fact, he wouldn't mind if, come April, most of America knows him only as the guy who's cutting down the net.

Issue date: November 25, 2002