We don't know much about Alabama basketball coach Anthony Grant yet, but we do know the team will apparently begin playing a higher quality non-conference schedule.

    Grant, who participated in the SEC Basketball Coaches teleconference this past week, wouldn't directly answer specific questions about his personnel, but said his club would play at a faster pace and "extend the defense," which I interpret to mean the Tide will press and trap much more.

    Schedule-wise, Alabama is in the Old Spice Classic down in Orlando the week of Thanksgiving. It's an eight-team field and each club is slated to play three games in three days. Other schools in the tourney include Marquette, Baylor, Michigan, Xavier, Florida State, Creighton and Iona. All of them participated in a post-season tournament last year.

    By the way, I wonder whatever happened to Ronald Steele? Remember when he was a preseason All-America selection a couple of years ago? Strange how circumstances can change.

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    Look for circumstances to change soon at Kentucky too. The addition of John Calipari and his top-ranked recruiting class in Lexington had the SEC's coaches buzzing. Calipari lost Jodie Meeks to the NBA draft, but center Patrick Patterson elected to return to school, and barring any last-minute academic issues, the incoming freshmen should all be impact players.

    Arkansas coach John Pelphrey, who played at Kentucky, said the league needs the Wildcats to be a power again.

    "I think it's important because right now there's a big-time arms race going on with Kentucky and North Carolina," he said. "With Coach (Roy) Williams, North Carolina's not going to win many games below 30 a year."

    The SEC, which got only three teams into the NCAA tournament a year ago, will also be aided by Calipari's arrival. Or at least that's what Tennessee's Bruce Pearl thinks.

    "He's going to bring us more credibility," he said. "Winning the league will be more difficult."

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    Great news that Troy is moving forward with its plans to build a new arena that will hopefully be ready for use by the 2011-12 season. If the Trojans are to ever gain admission to Conference USA -- which would legitimize the football program even more -- they have to have a larger basketball facility. How cool would it be to host Memphis?

    Phil Paramore's column appears Tuesday and Friday in The Dothan Eagle. He can be heard weekday mornings from 7-9 on AM 560 WOOF or at www.woofradio.com. He can be reached at the same website.