Former Crimson Tide Forward Named As TA Girls Basketball Coach; Boys Head Coach Hired

TUSCALOOSA, AL — Tuscaloosa Patch has confirmed that Luke Hutcheson has been hired as the next boys basketball coach at Tuscaloosa Academy and former Alabama men's basketball forward Emmett Thomas will be the new varsity girls head coach.

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The announcement of both hires was made in an email to parents this week.

Hutcheson has been a basketball coach at Morgan Academy and was more recently employed as a physical education teacher and coach at Demopolis Middle School.

He will replace Barry Sanderson, who Patch previously reported was hired as the head basketball coach at Northridge High School. In making the move, TA girls basketball coach Jacob Acker is joining Sanderson as an assistant.

Thomas appeared in 56 games for the Crimson Tide men's basketball team from 2002-2004, averaging 8.7 points a game his senior season for coach Mark Gottfried. That season saw the Crimson Tide reach the Elite Eight for the first and only time in program history.

The upcoming 2023-2024 season will be the second for both programs competing as a member of the Alabama High School Athletic Association.

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