3 takeaways from Tony Madlock's first news conference as Alabama State men's basketball coach

With the drumline of the Mighty Marching Hornets roaring throughout the ASU Stadium club lounge, the Tony Madlock era of Alabama State men's basketball began Tuesday.

Madlock, a former Memphis, Ole Miss and Auburn assistant who was was head coach at South Carolina State last season, was hired to replace Mo Williams, who departed in March for Jackson State.

Here are the biggest takeaways from Madlock's introductory news conference:

TONY MADLOCK: Former Memphis assistant, South Carolina State coach hired at Alabama State

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MO WILLIAMS: ASU coach leaves for Jackson State after two seasons in Montgomery

Slow and steady

Madlock, 52, has climbed a methodical path through the college basketball coaching ranks.

He played at Memphis, where he still ranks as the program's all-time leader in games played, from 1988-92 alongside Penny Hardaway. He got into coaching soon after, first as an assistant at Melrose (Tenn.) High. That led to stints as an assistant at Arkansas State, UTEP, Auburn, Ole Miss and Memphis, where he coached under Hardaway.

Last summer, Madlock finally got his first full-time head-coaching job, at South Carolina State (he served as Ole Miss' interim coach for five games in 2018).

On Saturday, Madlock was recruiting at an EYBL tournament in Orlando when Alabama State called to offer the position. That night, he set up a group FaceTime with his wife Stacie, son TJ and daughter Kyndal, breaking the news.

"I called it a family meeting," Madlock said. "Family meeting is code for 'We're about to move.' ... We had a long talk, everybody was on board and talked about all the positive things. We were really excited about it."

Madlock hasn't spent longer than four years in one place since 2006. He's hoping Alabama State will be different.

"It got later into the night, me and my wife were sitting down and talking," he said. "I said I don't want any more 'family meetings' for a long time."

Playing fast and aggressive

A coach saying he wants his team to play fast and play aggressively is perhaps the most ubiquitous preseason cliché. But last season, Madlock's Bulldogs actually did just that.

South Carolina State went 15-16 and 7-7 in the MEAC, its best record in six years. It played at the 40th-fastest pace in the country, per KenPom. In addition, the Bulldogs averaged 15.2 offensive rebounds per game, a figure which led the entire nation.

"We're going to play fast, we're going to press, all those things," Madlock said. "But the most important part of my teams, and you're going to see it from day one, is how hard we play."

Filling out the roster

Madlock drew cheers when he announced that his son, TJ, would be coming to Alabama State with him via the transfer portal. TJ, a 6-foot-3 rising sophomore, averaged a team-high 12.7 points and 3.2 assists for South Carolina State this season.

Other roster questions remain. Of the 16 players on the Hornets' roster last season, more than half are currently in the transfer portal, including first-, second- and third-leading scorers Trace Young, Kenny Strawbridge and Gerald Liddell. None, however, have announced destinations, seemingly leaving open the possibility of a return.

On Monday, Madlock met with current players and talked with them individually, asking them to tell him their stories: Why did they come to Alabama State? Tuesday, several players were in attendance at the news conference.

"The ones that want to stay and want to be part of what we're building, we're going to make sure it happens," Madlock said. "The ones that don't, we understand. The transfer portal's a new thing. We're going help them, get them to the best place for them."

Madlock expressed a desire to recruit the best high school players in the city of Montgomery, and Alabama as a whole, to play for Alabama State. In addition, he pointed to Atlanta and his hometown of Memphis as potential hotbeds.

"Memphis better get ready," Madlock said. "We're going to get one or two that Penny doesn't want."

Jacob Shames can be reached by email at jshames@gannett.com, by phone at 334-201-9117 and on Twitter @Jacob_Shames.

This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Alabama State men's basketball: Takeaways from Tony Madlock's introduction