Alabama AD Greg Byrne Confirms New Arena Will Be 'Competition-Only'

Byrne explained how Alabama's new practice facility will fit in with the future new arena.

Rendering of Alabama's proposed new basketball arena / Crimson Tide Foundation

When the UA System Board of Trustees announced an expansion to Coleman Coliseum to build a new practice facility for the Alabama men's basketball team in June, it was met with some confusion.

The athletic department has had a proposed new basketball arena since the winter of 2022, and though construction has been delayed due to inflation and other factors that have increased cost, some fans assumed that the men's basketball program would eventually move out of Coleman Coliseum altogether.

Appearing on the first edition of the 'Hey Coach' radio show for the 2024-25 season, Alabama athletic director Greg Byrne confirmed the proposed new arena would be for competition use only, and explained how the new facility will fit in with the proposed new 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."

The new facility, for which construction has already started in the Coleman Coliseum parking lot, will include a new weight room, training rooms, practice gym and more for the men's basketball program, while the existing practice facility inside Coleman Coliseum will receive a renovation for the women's 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 has said in the past that Oats has prioritized an updated practice facility over any other projects, which led to the approval of the new facility after Alabama's first-ever trip to the Final Four last April. Still, Byrne gave a positive update regarding donations for the new arena, though there remains to be no timeline for beginning its construction.