As Times-Journal Publisher Jesse Lindsey pointed out, things have been pretty good for Selma this week.

That extends to a pair of local boys making some noise in the NCAA tournament.

On Thursday Antoine Pettway, who played for his father Joseph at Keith High, made the game winning shot to help the Crimson Tide advance past Southern Illinois in the first round.

On Saturday another local star, former Southside forward Chuck Davis, got in on the act.

Davis and Pettway scored 12 points each to help the eighth-seeded Tide upset Stanford, a one-seed and a favorite of many experts to win the whole thing this year.

Now the Dallas County duo and their Alabama team will advance to play a beatable defending national champion Syracuse team for the right to move to the Elite Eight, a step away from the Final Four.

Not bad for a couple of guys from Dallas County.

It just goes to show the depth of talent in our area.

Pettway, unlike Davis, went fairly unnoticed by the major colleges after his standout high school career.

The guard passed up scholarship offers to play at smaller schools to pursue his dream.

He walked on at Alabama and now his smiling face has been broadcast around the world.

We at the STJ want to know who’s next.

Despite the obvious talent in the Black Belt, college recruiters haven’t exactly beaten a path to our little corner of Alabama.

Sure the stars, like Wilcox Central’s Mike Williams, have been signed.

But what about the other guys?

Having followed this season of high school basketball in the Black Belt, we know there are other Antoine Pettways and Chuck Davis’ out there, they just need to be found.

Here’s hoping some coach, like Alabama’s Mark Gottfried, has the foresight to come and find our diamonds in the rough.

Until then we should all, whether Crimson Tide fans or not, stand up and cheer for our hometown boys.