Alabama Basketball to Lift Final Four Banner in October

Coleman Coliseum will have a new addition in the rafters before the season begins.

Mar 30, 2024; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Nate Oats celebrates with the trophy after defeating the Clemson Tigers in the finals of the West Regional of the 2024 NCAA Tournament at Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports | Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Alabama men's basketball had quite the magical season this past year as it reached its first Final Four in school history.

On Thursday, the program announced that it'll unveil the Final Four banner and launch it up the Coleman Coliseum rafters on Oct. 11 at 8:30 p.m. CT, which is 17 days before the Rocket City Classic charity exhibition against Memphis and 24 days before Alabama’s season opener at home against UNC Asheville. Tickets for the ceremony are $10.

The festivities will begin with an introduction of the 2024-25 Alabama men's basketball team, and will include a dunk contest, three-point competition and conclude with a scrimmage. The first 2,000 fans in attendance will receive a replica banner and Final Four poster.

Mark your calendar 🗓️

On Oct. 11 we will unveil our 2024 Final Four Banner and introduce our 2024-25 team!

Get your tickets now: https://t.co/0oIMfto9xO#RollTide | #BlueCollarBasketball pic.twitter.com/Ow392braYJ

— Alabama Men’s Basketball (@AlabamaMBB) August 22, 2024

While the Final Four run was spectacular, the journey to the Big Dance wasn't easy and it started the second after the 2022-23 season ended.

The Crimson Tide, who was the the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament in 2022-23 had a bitter ending to the best season in school history as it fell to San Diego State in the Sweet 16. Alabama lost numerous players to the draft and transfer portal, and although the Tide was ranked for a good portion of this past season, it certainly was a shaky year.

Choosing upsets in brackets is a common theme in the annual NCAA Tournament, and Alabama, who entered March Madness as a No. 4 seed, was often picked to lose somewhat early by the college basketball community. Shortly before the NCAA Tournament, Alabama finished the regular season with a solid 21-11 record, but lost three of its last four games and also fell to Florida early in the SEC Tournament.

However, a switch flipped and the Tide quickly defeated 13-seeded Charleston and 12-seeded Grand Canyon in the NCAA Tournament to advance to the Sweet 16 against one-seeded North Carolina. Alabama-UNC was arguably the best game of the entire tournament as the Crimson Tide prevailed 89-87. Alabama then triumphed over six-seeded Clemson 89-82 in the Elite Eight matchup to achieve the dream of cutting the nets down.

The Tide's magnificent Final Four run would end at the hands of UConn by a score of 86-72. The Huskies went on to defeat Purdue 75-60 in the National Championship to claim back-to-back titles.

Fast forward to today, a strong argument can be made that this is the most anticipated season in the history of Tide Hoops. Head coach Nate Oats and his staff, several returning players including First Team All-SEC point guard Mark Sears, multiple experienced transfers and highly touted incoming freshmen all give Alabama realistic expectations to get two more wins than last season's NCAA Tournament to claim the school's first-ever National Title.