Ennis Whatley Named Alabama’s 2016 SEC Basketball Legend

Former Alabama great Ennis Whatley is one of 14 former standouts who have been selected for the 2016 Allstate® Southeastern Conference Basketball Legends.

Whatley, along with the entire class, will be honored at the 2016 SEC Men's Basketball Tournament, which will be held March 9-13, at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn.

Whatley, a 2015 Alabama Sports Hall of Fame inductee, earned NABC Second Team All-America honors in 1983 as he averaged 15.2 points per game while leading the Tide to an appearance in the SEC Championship game and NCAA Tournament. A year earlier, the junior point guard helped Alabama to a 1982 SEC Tournament title and an NCAA Sweet 16 appearance.

Whatley’s biggest weapon was his passing ability as he set the school record for single-season assists with 220 in 1983 – a number that still ranks second-best in Alabama history. He still owns the school record for career average assists per game at 6.32.

Whatley was one of 14 Alabama players to be a first round NBA Draft pick after his selection in the 1983 Draft. His NBA career spanned 10 years with seven different teams and 385 career games.

Joining Whatley as members of the 2016 class are: Pat Bradley, Arkansas; Jack Stewart, Auburn; Lee Humphrey, Florida; Jarvis Hayes, Georgia; Larry Conley, Kentucky; Stanley Roberts, LSU; Johnny Neumann, Ole Miss; Mario Austin, Mississippi State; Devan Downey, South Carolina; Vincent Yarbrough, Tennessee; Carroll Broussard, Texas A&M; Shan Foster, Vanderbilt.

Each SEC Basketball Legend will be recognized at halftime of his institution's first game at the tournament.

This marks the 18th year of the SEC Basketball Legends program. Alabama’s SEC Legends include, in order, Reggie King, 1999; Wendell Hudson, 2000; T.R. Dunn, 2001; Leon Douglas, 2002; Buck Johnson, 2003; Derrick McKey, 2004; Gary Waites, 2005; Jim Farmer, 2006; Mike Nordholz, 2007; Leon Marlaier, 2008; Melvin Cheatum, 2009; Charles Cleveland, 2010; Robert Horry, 2011; Jack Kubiszyn, 2012; Wimp Sanderson, 2013; Eddie Phillips, 2014; and Charles “C.M.” Newton, 2015.