Alabama fan buys ‘rebound’ billboard to motivate Tide basketball team

When Mike Wendel watched Alabama lose to Missouri a few days ago, he bought four billboards in Tuscaloosa, off University Boulevard, to help remind the team to “rebound.”
“Me and my wife got frustrated. They’re spending more time with their heinies walking away from the basket than they have their chests to the basket after missing the 3-point shot so me and my wife got frustrated and we bought the billboards,” Wendel said.
From “Protect the Paint” to “Rebounding= Final Four”, Wendel says these digital billboards are meant to motivate the team, not to be mean, as he sees them as a Final Four team.
“They play a really cool version of basketball, they’re swapping threes from the middle of nowhere and it’s exciting, I believe they can win and I’m a Villanova grad,” Wendel said.
Alabama rebounded from that Missouri loss by beating South Carolina Tuesday night and remain in control in the SEC standings. As for coach Nate Oats, he loves Wendel’s enthusiasm.
“I like the fact that fans are into basketball and they care enough to buy a billboard, but I’ll say this; JP led us in rebounds and we outrebounded South Carolina who is one of the best rebounding teams in the country,” Oats said.
The digital billboards will stay up until March 9th, but Wendel says they will adjust the wording depending on how the Crimson Tide plays to help encouraging them.
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