The University of Alabama has always been known as a football school, and of course this is for good reason as maybe the most decorated program in the history of the sport.<\/p>\n
Ever since Nate Oats has taken over the basketball program though, the roundball sport in Tuscaloosa has become among the premiere programs in college basketball as well and renewed a fiery passion for Tide Hoops in Tuscaloosa among both the students and the alumni.<\/p>\n
A couple of years ago, serious momentum was building for a new arena to replace Coleman Coliseum, which is among the most outdated in the conference.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, inflation and rising construction costs as a result put the project on hold in favor of a new practice facility, a facility currently being built adjacent to Coleman.<\/p>\n
During an appearance on \u2018Hey Coach\u2019 this week though, Alabama athletics director Greg Byrne clarified that the arena project is not dead, and said that they want to figure it out.<\/p>\n
Alabama AD Greg Byrne spoke to \u201cHey Coach\u201d tonight about the new basketball practice facility and added of a new arena, \u201cObviously, we unveiled the idea of a new arena [in February 2022]. We ran into some complications with that. It\u2019s still something we\u2019ve got to address. Coleman\u2026<\/p>\n
\u2014 Mike Rodak (@mikerodak) August 14, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cObviously, we unveiled the idea of a new arena [in February 2022],\u201d he said. \u201cWe ran into some complications with that. It\u2019s still something we\u2019ve got to address. Coleman opened up in \u201868 and it\u2019s showing its age.\u201d<\/p>\n Coleman has received an injection of life with the rebirth of the program, but if Oats is going to be around for the long haul, he and his team deserve an arena which matches the quality.<\/p>\n It certainly sounds like Byrne agrees, and the progress on a new arena is something worth monitoring over the course of the next couple of years.<\/p>\n Michael Brauner is a Senior Sports Analyst and Contributing Writer for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter\u00a0@MBraunerWNSP<\/a>\u00a0and hear him every weekday morning from 6 to 9 a.m. on \u201cThe Opening Kickoff\u201d on WNSP-FM 105.5,\u00a0available free online.<\/a><\/p>\n