Coach Nate Oats shares his feelings about Alabama basketball’s massive 48,000 sq. ft. expansion project
Alabama Athletics recently revealed their plans for the expansion and renovation of the program's basketball training and player development facility, and head coach Nate Oats took to X/Twitter to share his feelings about the massive 48,000 sq. ft. expansion project.
On June 7, Alabama Athletics proposed a renovation of approximately 19,000 square feet of existing team space. Both the men's and women's basketball teams will have their own respective facilities, including player development areas, locker rooms, lounges, film rooms, offices and more.
Nate Oats was excited about this expansion and thanked the Board of Trustees, the Interim Chancellor, the President and fans for their continued support.
The UA System Board of Trustees voted to approve this expansion after getting the approval for the funding and initial stages of the project, officially titled "Coleman Coliseum Basketball Training Facility Expansion and Renovation".
According to SI, the project will cost around $58.6 million. Notably, the facilities will be fully operational by the 2026 season, according to Alabama athletic director Greg Byrne.
Alabama Crimson Tide's future
With the expansion, Oats and his team will have better facilities to help make deeper NCAA tournament runs. He also commented on how necessary the expansion was for the program (via SI):
“As a program, we spend a majority of our time in the practice gym, the weight room and studying film, so the potential for us to have a new and expanded space for our student-athletes to develop is big for our program," Oats said.
"We have tremendous support from our administration, which has played a role in our success, and I want to thank the Board of Trustees, Interim Chancellor Trant and President Bell as well as Greg Byrne and Shane Lyons for bringing this forward. I’d also like to thank our donors and fans for all they do for us.”
Last season, Alabama made the NCAA Tournament and went on to the Elite Eight, after defeating top-seed North Carolina.
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