Who is Avery Johnson?

Alabama has officially hired Avery Johnson as the new head men's basketball coach, but many may not know of his credentials and basketball pedigree.

After the firing of Anthony Grant as the head coach of the Tide's men basketball team, the search began for Grant's replacement. We all know of the saga that was "The Recruitment of Gregg Marshall," the head man for the Wichita State Shockers. After a long and tenuous process, he and Wichita State agreed to a raise and contract extension, then Alabama athletic director Bill Battle had to resort to Plan B.

The problem with Plan B is that typically, some people don't have a Plan B, and many Alabama fans were worried that this was the case. After putting all of their eggs into the Gregg Marshall basket, did Alabama have a back up plan?

Then entered Avery Johnson.

Word leaked that Johnson was interested in the Alabama job, but some (including myself) thought it to be a marketing ploy or a chance for him to get his name out in the collegiate coaching world. However, after several days of speculation, Johnson agreed to become the head basketball coach in Tuscaloosa, and has energized most Alabama fans to stand behind the hiring.

Now, I said "most Alabama fans." Unfortunately, there are some that don't really know who Avery Johnson is, so here's a rundown of his career.

Johnson was recruited to play basketball at New Mexico Junior College, Cameron University, and Southern University, then took his talents to the NBA, but was not drafted in the 1988 draft.

He continued working at his craft and eventually made it to the NBA after playing a summer season for the Palm Beach Stingrays of the USBL in 1988.

The Seattle Supersonics picked him up after his short stint with the Stingrays, and stayed with them until 1990. From 1990-1994, Johnson hopped around from team to team, of which included the Denver Nuggets, San Antonio Spurs, Houston Rockets, and the Golden State Warriors.

As with many young undrafted players in the NBA, his first few years in the association were actually quite common. Johnson went back to the San Antonio Spurs during the 1994 season, and head coach Gregg Popovich decided to keep him around for a few years. That would skyrocket him into Spurs lore, as he was an important cog for the 1998-99 Spurs team that won the NBA championship, as he hit the series-clinching shot in Game 5 of the NBA Finals to defeat the New York Knicks.

After the 2001 season, he was then released from the Spurs, and then spent the next three years with the Denver Nuggets, Dallas Mavericks, and eventually retired with the Golden State Warriors in 2004.

His jersey number was officially retired in 2007, and was also inducted into the San Antonio Spurs Hall of Fame in 2009.

As a coach, Johnson began his career in 2005 as an assistant for the Dallas Mavericks, then was promoted to head coach in 2005 just five months later after former head coach Don Nelson retired in the middle of the 2005-2006 season.

During his head coaching tenure for the Mavs, Johnson guided and turned them into one of the best teams in the NBA over that time, going 194-70 in three and a half seasons and taking the Mavericks to the NBA Finals in 2006, only to lose to the Miami Heat squad that included NBA legends Shaquille O'Neal and Dwyane Wade.

After the 2008 season, as the Mavericks seemed to be taking a step back, they decided to part ways with Johnson, and then he took his first step into television broadcasting, as he was hired onto ESPN as a basketball analyst.

He stayed in Bristol for just one year before going back into coaching, as he took over the New Jersey/Brooklyn Nets from 2010-2012. His stint for the Nets was not successful, as he failed to lead them to the playoffs in both years, and was fired in 2012.

Since 2013, Johnson went back to work with ESPN as an analyst for NBA Tonight, NBA Coast to Coast, and SportsCenter.

He has obviously now taken the responsibility of becoming the Alabama head coach, but some have expressed their concern that he has no collegiate coaching experience. This is a legitimate argument, and there's no sure-fire way of knowing how good of a college coach Johnson can be. However, with his connections in the NBA combined with his playing prowess, Alabama fans can be optimistic about the future of the basketball program.