Alabama Players Grateful to Have Their 'Defensive Coordinator' for Rest of NCAA Tournament

Crimson Tide assistant coach Charlie Henry was named the head coach of Georgia Southern Tuesday, but has helped Alabama have one of the best defenses in the country this season.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Alabama gave up its highest point total in the 96-75 win against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Thursday afternoon in the NCAA Tournament since the overtime thriller over Auburn back on March 1. And that didn't leave Alabama's "defensive coordinator" Charlie Henry too happy. 

"Oh, he’s definitely upset," Alabama forward Noah Clowney said after the game. "We gave up 70 points. We don’t do that. I think we lost the second half— that’s even worse. We're gonna talk about it as a team. We're gonna get it figured out.”

While Henry might not be pleased with the defense's performance, his players however are very happy for their assistant, who was announced as the Georgia Southern head coach Tuesday. Henry is still staying with the Crimson Tide through its run in the NCAA Tournament. 

"It’s big time," Clowney said. "We’re proud of him obviously. It’s a great opportunity. He works hard day in and day out, so he deserves it. Him staying to help us finish what we started means a lot. We’ve got a lot of love for each other, we just want to finish it out.”

Alabama transfer guard Dom Welch said he's learned things about the game from Henry that he was never taught in his four years at St. Bonaventure. Guard Jaden Bradley said he's spent many hours with Henry outside of practice working on his defense. 

The Crimson Tide has been in the top-3 of defensive efficiency for two of the last three season thanks in large part to Henry. Alabama's top NBA prospect, Brandon Miller, said Henry has helped him more with the defensive side of his game than anyone else. 

"He's been in the league, so I'm pretty sure he has the most experience out of everybody in here," Miller said. "He knows a lot about the game, so he just teaches me about the small stuff just to have in my game.”

Henry and Oats first connected at Romulus High School in Detroit before Henry moved on to the college ranks at Iowa State. He eventually became an assistant with the Chicago Bulls and was a head coach for the Bull's G-League team from 2017-2019. Henry has been an assistant for Alabama since Oats' first season in 2019. Georgia Southern will be his first college head coaching job. 

Several players, like Miller and forward Nick Pringle, have a special relationship with Henry's son, Nash, who was born in Nashville in March 2020 when the Crimson Tide was up there for the SEC Tournament. Nash was born pre-mature and spent several months in the hospital at the time, but now spends time with the Crimson Tide's star players. 

For now, players like Charles Bediako are just glad Henry is staying with Alabama through its tournament run to help finish what he started as this group goes for the school's first national championship. 

"He’s the defensive coordinator for us, and that’s really just helped us throughout this whole season," Bediako said. "Coach always says offense wins games, but defense wins championships. He plays a big role for that, so we’re just happy for him getting a head coaching job. Can’t think about that right now because he’s with us—he’s going to be our defensive coordinator."

See also:

No. 1 Alabama Handles Texas A&M-CC in NCAA Tournament First Round

Everything Nate Oats, Alabama Basketball Said After Advancing to Second Round

Mark Sears is Returning to Form at the Perfect Time for No. 1 Alabama