The morning after Collin Sexton was drafted No. 8 to the Cleveland Cavs was story time with his former head coach.

Avery Johnson did a media teleconference sharing a few memories of the Crimson Tide's first top-10 draft pick in 23 years. The coach said they expected Sexton would be selected anywhere between No. 6 and No. 9. When they saw Orlando went with Mo Bamba with the sixth pick, Cleveland was all but assured to select Sexton.

"Yes," Johnson said, "I did cry. It was just a wonderful night."

Looking back at his time at Alabama, Johnson recalled a few moments that stood out. The supreme confidence and comfort Sexton developed in his one collegiate season drew a laugh from Johnson.

"To the point where when I wanted to run certain plays," Johnson said, "I would get over ruled. It was the same thing I used to do to Gregg Popovich."

It amused the coach who was a big personality himself playing in the NBA, most notably with the San Antonio Spurs.

"I would draw up a play sometimes and he would say 'No, Coach. Let's run something different. This is what I see on the floor,'" Johnson remembered Sexton saying. "I was like 'Realllly?' I liked his boldness as the season went on. Sometimes he challenged me in a very constructive way or make a suggestion and I liked it. It built confidence and it was kinda fun. I would go back to my office and I would be all excited because it would remind me of what I used to do to Coach Pop. It showed a sign of growth."

That certainly wasn't the player -- or the personality -- Johnson first encountered with a high school-aged Sexton.

This goes back to the first team camp in 2015 not long after Johnson was hired in Tuscaloosa. He saw this kid running the court at "a thousand miles an hour," Johnson said. Only after asking assistant coach Antoine Pettway who he was did Johnson learn that hot shot was Sexton.

At the time, the only offers he had were from Georgia State and Kennesaw State. Johnson wanted to be No. 3, so he called Sexton back to his office.

"And he was this really shy kid," Johnson said. "Kinda twirling his hair. Picking his fingers and talking very softly but he's just so explosive on the floor."

Of course Sexton developed into a McDonald's All-American and one of the nation's top-10 recruits after committing to Alabama. He was the catalyst of the program's first NCAA appearance in six years.

And Thursday night, he became the first from Alabama drafted in 10 years. Sexton also broke the streak of drafts without a first-round Tide pick at 17 years.

Michael Casagrande is an Alabama beat writer for the Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @ByCasagrande or on Facebook.