Alabama director of basketball operations resigns after internal review

The Alabama Crimson Tide appear to be the latest program affected by the FBI probe that has rocked college basketball since Tuesday morning.

Wednesday night, Alabama athletics director Greg Byrne announced that he had accepted the resignation of Kobie Baker, the school’s director of basketball operations. Baker, who was entering his third season with the Tide, had previously worked for the NCAA as an assistant director of enforcement. Baker’s resignation came after Alabama had conducted an internal review of its basketball program.

“Following yesterday’s reports from New York regarding a Federal investigation of intercollegiate athletics, The University of Alabama Department of Athletics immediately initiated an internal review of our men’s basketball operation,” Byrne said in a statement. “As a result, we have accepted the resignation effective today of Kobie Baker, a men’s basketball administrator. Our review has not identified any NCAA or SEC rules violations nor the involvement of any other coach or staff member. We have notified both of the governing bodies of the actions we have taken. As always, we will continue to be proactive in our compliance efforts.”

After pulling in a surprising top-10 recruiting class headlined by five-star point guard Collin Sexton, head coach Avery Johnson appears to have a top-25 caliber team heading into his third season.

On Tuesday, Johnson was asked about the news of the FBI probe.

“When I saw that news ... obviously, man,” Johnson said. “It’s pretty interesting. But I don’t have any comments about it. I don’t know the details or the ins or outs of it or what happened. It’s not my place to make a comment on it. But obviously when I saw the news, I was taken aback.”