Greg Byrne Confirms New Arena “Competition Only”

The announcement was made that the UA Board of Trustees approved a new basketball practice facility, and the announcement was received with mixed emotions by the Alabama fanbase.

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The athletic department proposed a new basketball arena to replace Coleman Coliseum in winter 2022. Still, construction has yet to start due to inflation and other factors that increased costs.

Alabama's athletic director, Greg Byrne, was the first guest on the "Hey Coach" radio show for the 2024-2025 season, and he confirmed the new basketball arena is for competition only and would not replace Coleman Coliseum and the practice facilities.

How does the new facility fit into the proposed arena plans?

"Day-to-day, for a coach, their classroom is the court," Byrne said. "What we've talked about for an arena, is a competition-only arena. We needed to address the practice side of it, and we needed to address it for both programs. We're building a new practice facility just off of Coleman Coliseum, so eventually with Coleman, no matter what happens to it long-term, we will have this separate facility. We'll have a new court for the men, the women will take over where the men have been."

Construction has already started in the Coleman Coliseum lot on the campus of the University of Alabama. It will feature new locker rooms, weight rooms, training rooms, a practice gym, and more for the men's basketball team to move into. Coleman Coliseum's practice facility will receive a renovation for the women's basketball team to move into.

"We're doing first-class, nice locker rooms," Byrne said. "When recruits walk into this place it'll be as good a setup as anybody has from a basketball development standpoint. That’s one of the things that’s a big selling piece for both of our programs, but especially with what Nate [Oats] has done to develop young men."

Byrne mentioned in the past that Alabama's head coach of men's basketball, Nate Oats, preferred a practice facility over other projects. Oats led Alabama to its first-ever Final Four in program history last April.

While there was a positive update on donations for the new arena, there is no timeline for construction to begin.

Wyatt Fulton is the TIde 100.9 DME and Brand Manager, primarily covering Alabama Crimson Tide football and men's basketball. For more Crimson Tide coverage, follow Wyatt on X (Formerly known as Twitter) at @FultonW_.