The next few weeks are huge for the Alabama basketball program. Truth be told, they could decide the fate of Mark Gottfried's tenure at Alabama. Currently, the team's two best players are testing the NBA waters at the Orlando Pre-Draft camp. Richard Hendrix and Ronald Steele are using this time to get evaluated and figure out if they are locks for the 1st round.

And being an Alabama fan, only about 10% of us care. The other 90% are currently e-mailing each other the countdown to kick-off and researching which current football recruits actually qualified for the 2008 season. Most Alabama fans are concerned with basketball only if Alabama has a subpar football season (which has happened often lately) and when the team starts the SEC basketball season. Other than that, they don't really care.

But they should. If Hendrix and Steele were to come back, this team could be good. With the addition of JaMychal Green, this team could contend for the SEC title. If both of those guys go, they'll have no point guard and a freshman in the post. Sounds like another subpar season with Gottfried on the hot seat.

Steele is an interesting case. He was one of the top five PG's in the nation his sophmore season. He played hurt his junior year and sat out last year in order to recover. According to an interview with Marty Blake on the Dunaway and Brown show (you can hear it here), Steele is struggling at the camp. You can tell he hasn't played competitve ball in a year. Hopefully that's true. Because Jeff Goodman at Fox Sports has Alabama fans scared, he says that Steele is still favoring his leg. Alabama fans have been down that road before. Hopefully we can believe Blake on this one.

(Side note. Gottfried was notorius for blaming Steele's injury for all of the problems this year. A friend of mine has started using Steele's knee as the blame for everything. High Gas Prices? - Steele's knee. You get the point.)

Either way, it looks like Steele will be wearing the crimson jersey next year. And depending on his knee, that could be a good or bad thing. Let's just hope Gottfried doesn't use that for an excuse.

Richard Hendrix is a different case. He seems to be performing about as well as can be expected. However, he's still not a lock for the 1st round. He has no outside shot and he's slightly undersized for his position. However, if you read this article detailing the situation by Andy Katz, you might think he already have one foot out the door.

"I have a great relationship with the staff," Hendrix said. "I loved my time at the University of Alabama, but this is an opportunity for me to show what I have and take my talent to the next level."

Alabama fans (the 10% that care about basketball) have been down this road before. We were robbed of Kennedy Winston's senior year because he thought he could be a 1st round pick. He ended up not getting drafted and is currently playing in Europe somewhere.

So here's the question I'm struggling with. Do you root against your guys at this time of the year? Should you be happy if Steele is not playing well? Should you be happy if Hendrix has a subpar showing at the pre-draft camp?

These guys are Alabama guys. I want them to do well all the time. I pull for McDyess, Horry, Wallace, and Mo Williams. Why wouldn't I pull for Steele and Hendrix? Am I being selfish if I want them back for another season?

I guess the school trumps the player. In my mind, if the player can still contribute to the school, then I want them there. If they can't (like the guys listed above), then I pull for them because they are Alabama guys. But I just don't want them to waste the opportunity. When McDyess left early, we all knew he would succeed. It was a no brainer. With Steele and Hendrix, it isn't so cut and dry. They could give me (and other Alabama fans) another solid season next year. They do us no good over in Europe or in the D-League.

Hopefully they both come back and this will be a m00t point in a couple of weeks. Either way, (as another friend likes to point out) Gottfried is still our coach.