Defensive tackle Albert Means was a coveted national prospect from Memphis Trezevant High in January 2000, but national recruiting analyst Jamie Newberg sensed a strange situation with Means and Trezevant coach Lynn Lang. "I got Albert's home phone number once, and I did an interview with him," Newberg said. "Albert was extremely quiet. Several hours later, Lang called me up and blasted me for calling Albert without him being there. Everything had to go through Lang." In January 2001, Trezevant assistant coach Milton Kirk told the Commercial Appeal in Memphis that Lang had been shopping Means to several colleges for a $200,000 price tag and that Alabama was top bidder. Alabama had been under an NCAA investigation since April 2000 for alleged violations under coach Mike DuBose, but the Means allegations would become the most damaging of them all.
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