By Rubin E. GrantJordan Ross hears all the wonderful things being said about him, but he’s not taking it to heart.In the spring, 247 Sports ranked Ross, Vestavia Hills’ 6-foot-5, 230-pound senior defensive end, the No. 1 recruit in Alabama in the Class of 2024, describing him as a “total athletic freak of nature.”ESPN 300 ranks him the 24th best recruit in the … [Read more...]

By Solomon Crenshaw Jr.  Some people will turn if a black cat crosses their path and some will avoid staying on the 13th floor of a high-rise hotel.  Homer Brown didn’t let the superstition of Friday the 13th keep him from starting his table tennis store at Brookwood Village.  “I don’t think I thought about it,” Brown said of that day in 1999. “I was … [Read more...]

By Rubin E. GrantMira McCool was always the tallest person in her class when she was in elementary school and even when she reached middle school.She and her younger sister, Ellis, played basketball with their dad, Dr. Brian McCool, as their coach, but Mira McCool wasn’t all that interested in volleyball. She had friends on the team at Homewood Middle School, … [Read more...]

By Solomon Crenshaw Jr. Martin Newton is named after his father, Charles Martin Newton. You just wouldn’t know it. “For whatever reason, they called me Martin when I was a little kid,” the Samford University athletics director said. “That’s my middle name.” And not the name he would have preferred. “I would have much rather been Charlie or … [Read more...]

By Rubin E. GrantAmanda Wood won’t be managing expectations, but her own vexation as she enters her second season as Hoover’s volleyball coach.The Bucs graduated nine of its 13 players from the 2022 team, which reached the Class 7A quarterfinals and finished with a 35-17 record, earning Wood OTM Coach of the Year honors in her first season.When the 2023 season … [Read more...]