As point guard Whitney Boddie describes it, “it’s like Sweet Home Alabama.”

No, she’s not talking about tonight’s 8 p.m. game against the Crimson Tide. Rather, the senior point guard is borrowing a line from Lynard Skynard to describe Auburn’s starting five, all of which hail from the Yellowhammer State.

No. 6 Auburn is the only team in the Associated Press Top 25 that boasts a starting five with players all from its home state.

Trivial? Maybe, but it was all part of the plan, coach Nell Fortner said.

“That’s another thing we wanted to do when we took the job here,” Fortner said. “We wanted to recruit the best players in the state of Alabama and win with them. I believed that we could, and it’s nice to see that it’s happening.”

The heart of Auburn’s starting five all came in at the same time, when Fortner brought in Boddie (Florence), Sherell Hobbs (Huntsville) and DeWanna Bonner (Fairfield) before the 2005-06 season. After one season at Gulf Coast Community College, Trevesha Jackson (Auburn) transferred in a year later. Alli Smalley (Arab) joined the squad last year.

“We’re all from Alabama, and to be able to represent our home state is great,” Hobbs said. “It puts Alabama on the map.”

That spot on the map hasn’t exactly been known for great basketball, but Fortner said it’s on the up and up.

The increase in strong AAU programs, which translates into better skill development and more outside exposure has been the main reason behind it, Fortner said. Instead of sitting on the couch, letting their skills waste away, athletes are honing their game 365 days a year.

Even in Alabama.

“More than anything, it gives them time to keep developing their game,” Fortner said, “and that’s what’s so important.”

Though this year’s rotation is loaded with Alabamians, the near future promises a roster full of out-of-staters.

Unless Fortner signs additional recruits, Smalley and Reneisha Hobbs will be the only natives on next year’s roster. All four of Fortner’s signees for the upcoming season hail from Georgia. One recruit that Fortner said she pursued since the eighth grade, Huntsville’s Adrienne Webb, chose LSU over Auburn.

“I’m very competitive and I wanted them bad, but that’s OK because Georgia’s been really good to us, too,” Fortner said. “And I always say this: Half the kids over there think Auburn’s in Georgia anyway.”

The benefits of recruiting in-state talent go beyond trivial tidbits, Hobbs said.

Of Boddie, Bonner and Hobbs, Hobbs was the first to commit. When KeKe Carrier committed, she and Hobbs tag-teamed in personally recruiting Bonner and Boddie to follow suit.

Alabama didn’t stand a chance.

“They wanted Whitney and DeWanna,” Hobbs said. “And through my sophomore year, I thought they were going to Alabama, but I guess that was a rumor.”

And that rumor about Fortner not looking for Alabama kids? That’s not true, either.

“I think it’s pretty special,” Fortner said. “And I hope we can keep bringing in the best players in the state of Alabama.”

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