Photo Gallery: Alabama Basketball Holds First Practice in San Diego

Crimson Tide holds first full practice in San Diego, where it waited to find out its opponent for Friday's game in the West Regional of the 2022 NCAA Tournament.

The University of Alabama men's basketball team has a surprise waiting for it in San Diego on Wednesday. 

Or shall we say everyone was presented with a pair of surprises. 

The Crimson Tide players were all presented with a new pair of game sneakers, Paul George 5’s by Nike. 

Alabama spent its first full day in ‘America’s Finest City’ as it continued preparations for the NCAA Tournament opener vs. the winner of Notre Dame vs. Rutgers, which was played Wednesday night in Dayton, Ohio. 

The sixth-seeded Crimson Tide will play the winner of the First Four contest between the 11th-seed Fighting Irish or Scarlet Knights on Friday afternoon at 3:15 p.m. The teams are playing in the West Regional of March Madness. 

Alabama practiced for two hours Wednesday afternoon at a local school. The team also did film study, video scouting and team meetings ahead of its tournament opener.

All photos courtesy of the University of Alabama. 

Welcome to California

How to Watch:

Who: 6-seed Alabama vs 11-seed Rutgers/Notre Dame

When: 3:15 p.m. CT, Friday

Where: Viejas Arena, San Diego, Calif.

TV: TNT - Lisa Byington/Steven Smith (play-by-play), Avery Johnson (analyst), Lauren Shehadi (reporter).

Radio: Crimson Tide Sports Network with Chris Stewart (play-by-play) and Bryan Passink (analyst) on the call. The pregame show will begin one hour prior to tipoff.

Last time out, Alabama: 21 points from Jaden Shackelford wasn't enough as the Crimson Tide fell in its opening game of the 2022 SEC Tournament to Vanderbilt, 82-76. While Alabama out-rebounded Vanderbilt 52-34, the Crimson Tide gave up 18 turnovers, which the Commodores turned into 16 points. 15 made free-throws by Vanderbilt guard Scotty Pippen Jr. were the dagger, ending Alabama's stint in the tournament early.

Last time out, Rutgers: After receiving a double-bye as the 4-seed of the Big Ten Tournament, the Scarlet Knights were ousted in their opening game by the eventual tournament champions, the Iowa Hawkeyes. Iowa made an impressive 25-of-27 free throws en route to the 84-74 win over Rutgers, despite the Scarlet Knights shooting 45 percent from the floor.

Late time out, Notre Dame: As the 2-seed in the ACC Tournament, Notre Dame also received a double-bye like Rutgers. However, it suffered the same fate as both the Crimson Tide and the Scarlet Knights, falling in its first game of the tournament to Virginia Tech, 87-80. The Hokies went on to win the tournament, but that didn't help the Fighting Irish fight off the sting of defeat.

This story will be updated.