Hofstra coach refers to Alabama as ‘William & Mary on steroids’ ahead of matchup
By Sydney Hunte
Published:
Speedy Claxton has led Hofstra, his alma mater, to its first NCAA Tournament in 25 years. The last time the Pride were in the Big Dance, Claxton was a rookie point guard for the Philadelphia 76ers.
The next step is leading the 13th-seeded Pride to a first-ever tournament win. They’ll face quite the task, though, against a fourth-seeded Alabama that was in the Final Four two years ago and an Elite Eight in 2025.
In other words, quite different than — yet similar to — one particular team Claxton has coached against on several occasions.
“We’re going to instill the same game plan that we have against William & Mary. They play a similar style tempo. We told our guys think of William & Mary on steroids, more athletic, bigger, faster, stronger,” Claxton said.
For the record, the Pride played W&M twice in the 2025-26 season. The first meeting, on Jan. 24, saw the Tribe come away with an 89-82 win at home. But the Pride got their revenge in a big way on Mar. 8 during the CAA tournament quarterfinals. That one ended in a 92-61 rout.
“It’s not like we’re not used to seeing this play style. Definitely going to try to control tempo. I think it’s going to be a big key to the game,” he said.
Tipoff from Benchmark International Arena in Tampa is set for 3:15 p.m. on Friday. According to Kalshi, Hofstra will have a tough test ahead. The Pride are showing as a heavy underdog.
Sydney is an Atlanta-based journalist who has covered everything from SEC and ACC football to MLS, the U.S. men's national soccer team and professional tennis. His work has appeared on such platforms as SB Nation, Cox Media Group and FanSided.
