Derrion Reid 'Good to Go' for March Madness, Fired Up to Extend Teammates' Careers

CLEVELAND— In the case of multiple Alabama men's basketball players, the NCAA Tournament is do or die for their college careers. Those players' younger teammates, who can come back to college regardless of what happens in March Madness, are acutely aware of this.

"It's a last run for a lot of these guys, so we gotta put our all into it," freshman forward Derrion Reid said Thursday. "It's like a fire inside of all of us."

The Crimson Tide (25-8), which enters the tournament as the No. 2 seed in the East Region after making the Final Four last year (with hopes to do it again), faces 15-seed Robert Morris (26-8) at 11:40 a.m. CT.

"I want us to make a statement, really," Reid said. "Just not play with our food."

Alabama has four fifth-year seniors on this season's squad: guards Mark Sears and Chris Youngblood, forward Grant Nelson and center Clifford Omoruyi. Two, Nelson and Sears, were on last year's Final Four team.

Reid has been hamstrung by injury problems throughout league play, appearing in just four games after the month of January. As if getting back on the floor himself was not motivation enough, he can play a role in keeping those veteran players' Crimson Tide careers going.

"Missing a long period of time, just coming back and missing another period is obviously aggravating, so just being able to get going here, that'd be good," he said. "We worked all year to get back to a Final Four... We've got a good team, great team, to do that."

The aforementioned seniors are not the only Alabama players who could be playing their last college games over the next few weeks (or few days, if the Crimson Tide is not able to make it past the first weekend in Cleveland). However, they don't have a choice in the matter eligibility wise.

"We're not trying to look too far ahead," Reid, who added that he's good to go from a health standpoint, said. "This could be our last game, so we gotta give it our all every game."