Texas got the best of Alabama this weekend, a run of victories that crossed over multiple sports. First, the men’s basketball squad took down the Crimson Tide 92-88 at Coleman Coliseum Saturday night.
Then, Steve Sarkisian’s football team scored two major transfer portal victories, earning former Auburn wideout Cam Coleman’s commitment after he had visited Tuscaloosa. Running back Hollywood Smothers, who had committed to Alabama from NC State earlier in the portal cycle, then flipped to Texas.
In the midst of all that success, the Longhorn social media team apparently decided to get in on the action. Following Coleman’s commitment, the official Texas men’s basketball account on the platform formerly known as Twitter posted a handshake emoji, tagging the football account.
The post went out at 12:34 p.m. CT, minutes after the Coleman news was released. The Smothers flip was reported less than 20 minutes later.
The Texas football account then retweeted the post. It remained up on both accounts as of Sunday afternoon.
The basketball loss on Saturday prompted Crimson Tide head coach to call out his team’s attitude moving forward.
“We got guys that don’t care enough to lock in and follow a game plan,” Oats said during his postgame press conference. “Losing doesn’t bother them enough yet. I don’t know how many losses it’s going to take ‘till it bothers them, but it’s bothering me. It bothers the coaching staff, and as soon as it starts bothering the players enough, I’m sure they’ll change.”
On the football side, the Smothers loss is significant for Alabama, given that he had already publicly committed to the Crimson Tide. UA’s run game struggled all throughout the 2025 season, but adding a veteran from NC Stae looked to be exactly what Kalen DeBoer and company needed to get back on track.
Instead, UA will need to either find another option in the portal, or rely on what it already has on the roster. That group includes Daniel Hill, Kevin Riley, AK Dear and incoming freshman EJ Crowell.
If Alabama could have landed Coleman, it would have been a major win for UA in-state, after he had initially become a superstar for Auburn. His presence would have given the passing attack a huge boost, especially after Isaiah Horton decided to enter the transfer portal.
The football portal remains open for undergraduate entry through Friday.