The Story of Alabama Basketball’s Most Dedicated Season-Ticket Holder

Morgan Crabtree decided to answer a phone call in 2023 that he was worried might be spam. The caller ID on his phone said “University of Alabama,” and he couldn’t figure out what the university would be ringing him for. He decided to answer anyway. That phone call helped create one of the most dedicated basketball fans that you’ll find inside Coleman Coliseum on Saturday night for Alabama’s matchup against Creighton.

“The season before last, I put in the waiting list thing, so then I had forgotten I did it,” Crabtree said. “I put one in for football every year, and I said, ‘I’ll just put one in for basketball while I’m here,’ and I didn’t think anything of it. It was the first time I’d put one in for basketball. I forgot about it, and then one day I looked at my phone, and it said ‘The University of Alabama.’”

It was the ticket office calling to ask if he wanted to purchase basketball season tickets. He went through different pricing and location options before finding the perfect seats on the aisle in section F. However, he asked the ticket office employee for 24 hours to talk it over with his wife Freya so that they could make a joint decision on the financial and time commitment.

“We talked it over as a family and decided, ‘Yeah let’s do it. Let’s see what it’s like,’” Crabtree said.

Crabtree ended up purchasing five season tickets for himself and his family. That's a pretty substantial investment considering Coleman Coliseum is located 400 miles from his home in a suburb south of Louisville, Kentucky.

Nevertheless, Crabtree doesn't regret the decision one bit.

Whether it’s an 8 p.m. midweek tipoff against a non-conference opponent or an early Saturday morning game, you can count on Crabtree to be in Coleman. He attended 14 of 16 home games last season, plus road games at Vanderbilt, Tennessee and Kentucky. He also saw Alabama beat Liberty in Birmingham and drove out to Arizona from Kentucky to see the Crimson Tide play in the program’s first Final Four.

Alabama basketball fan outside State Farm Stadium in Arizona — Crabtree at the Final Four in Arizona in April 2024 | Morgan Crabtree

He had valid reasons for the two home games he missed last season.

“I could not go to Missouri because there was ice in Birmingham and Tuscaloosa, and I wasn’t about to drive in ice in central and west Alabama,” Crabtree explained. “The Mississippi State game, I was in dad mode. My daughter was playing basketball, and she had a tournament. So I missed it because I went to her basketball tournament.”

It was a no-brainer to renew the season tickets for the 2024-2025 season. Crabtree has been to every home game so far this year plus the wins over Illinois and North Carolina. He will be in attendance again when No. 7 Alabama returns to Coleman Coliseum on Saturday night for the first time in 33 days.

Nate Oats and Morgan Crabtree — Crabtree with Alabama head coach Nate Oats before the Crimson Tide's win at North Carolina on Dec. 4, 2024 | Morgan Crabtree

Even though Crabtree was born and raised in the Bluegrass State and has spent most of his life there, he became an Alabama fan in 2006 while stationed at Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi, Mississippi. One of his military friends introduced him to the Crimson Tide, and while he was somewhat reluctant at first, it didn’t last long.

"I was like, ‘Sure, I’ll come watch it with you,'" Crabtree said. "Next thing you know, I got into it."

And it wasn't just Alabama football he became a fan of, even though that program was about to enter a new dynasty under Nick Saban. As a sports fan, Crabtree decided to go all in with all Crimson Tide sports. But as a Kentucky native who grew up watching basketball, it was an easy decision to become an Alabama basketball fan, too. He started following the team closely in 2009 and stuck with the program through the ups and downs of the Anthony Grant and Avery Johnson eras.

Crabtree is anything but a fair-weather fan.

The trip takes Crabtree about five-and-a-half to six hours depending on the traffic. He had been to Tuscaloosa before last season for football and basketball games, but the consistency ramped up once he became a season-ticket holder. Most of the time, he drives down for the game and back to Kentucky in the same day. A lot of the games, he would come down on his own because it was easier for him to get off work than his wife, and his three kids Jacob, Kaleigh and Olivia have school during the week. If his crew couldn’t make the trip, Crabtree would turn to his Coleman family.

He has become friends with several of the ushers that work inside the arena and also some of the most familiar faces surrounding the Alabama basketball program: The Crimson Tide Sports Network radio crew of Chris Stewart, Bryan Passink and Tom Stipe.

It’s become somewhat of a tradition to go talk to the Alabama basketball radio crew before each game he attends. Crabtree remembers the exact game he went and introduced himself to the radio guys for the first time. It was the Dec. 23, 2023 game against Eastern Kentucky.

“He asked where we were from, and when I told him he couldn’t believe we were season-ticket holders,” Crabtree said. “I was like, ‘Yeah, we don’t miss games.’ He gave me his card with his number. Next thing you know, we’ve built up a friendship with each other over this.”

Stewart remembers the meeting as well.

“It's one of those things where you see a guy time or two, and you go, ‘OK, that's cool,’” Stewart said. “And then you realize, wait a minute, it's a Tuesday night, and this is an eight o'clock game or a six o'clock game, either way…. On the one hand, you go, that’s crazy. On the other hand you go, that's the definition of a fan. That's a fanatic– in a great way for us. You’re happy for everybody when you have a season like we did last year. But it’s really cool that you see somebody who invested as much of themselves in terms of time and resources that they got to experience and enjoy a year like that.”

Crabtree and Chris Stewart in Chapel Hill | Morgan Crabtree

Stewart has the been the voice of Alabama basketball for over two decades, traveling all over the country with the program and calling hundreds of games from the court in Coleman Coliseum. Likewise, he’s met hundreds of fans through the years. He’s seen and knows the passion of the Alabama basketball fanbase better than almost anyone else.

Even he doesn’t know anyone who has consistently driven six hours for home games.

“We’ve had some great fans, I know especially from Huntsville, that seem to be there every time,” Stewart said. “That’s awesome. It’s a commitment from Montgomery or Birmingham. I know people that do that, and that’s a commitment because that’s not easy to do.

“So having the ability, but also the desire and determination to kind of make it your thing and be there all the time, that is very unique. And it’s awesome to see.”

Crabtree is the definition of a true fan. He drove over 18,000 miles and spent hundreds of hours in the car last season to support the team on its run to the Final Four. He strongly believes in what Nate Oats has built and is building with the Alabama basketball program and says he isn’t going anywhere as a fan.

“Anytime Bama’s playing, it’s my favorite game,” Crabtree said. “That’s probably the best answer I can give you. That’s not trying to sound cliche or anything— it’s the truth. Anytime Bama basketball’s playing, it’s my favorite game.”

Alabama Guard Chris Youngblood Expected To Make Season Debut Against Creighton