Alabama assistant Preston Murphy trolls rival Auburn, adds intrigue on Grant Nelson return

As intense as the Iron Bowl is on the football field, social media has been dominated by the basketball rivalry in recent years. Alabama and Auburn fans have continually gone after one another, with the conversation reaching a new level recently due to the Crimson Tide making the Final Four and then adding Aden Holloway out of the NCAA transfer portal a few weeks later.

Even coaches are getting involved in the trolling now, with Alabama assistant Preston Murphy posting a graphic on Wednesday, taking a shot at Auburn.

You see the Final Four logo placed in Tuscaloosa, a place Bruce Pearl and his staff hoped to be after winning the SEC Tournament. While Auburn fell short against Yale in the first round — to much amusement of Crimson Tide fans — Alabama went on a historic run and made the program’s first Final Four. The logo will hang in the rafters of Coleman Coliseum soon enough.

Looking on the other side of the state, Grant Nelson posterizing UConn‘s Donovan Clingan in the Final Four game covers up the city of Auburn. “Sweet Home Alabama” falls on the Eastern side of the state too, with Murphy declaring who he believes runs it.

You can check out the graphic here.

pic.twitter.com/2bsrT1RS5Q

— Preston Murphy (@coach_pmurph) April 24, 2024

Pearl injected life into Auburn basketball fans in 2019, reaching a new level by making the Final Four. They had won the SEC regular season championship the year prior but getting to a Final Four is a different level of accomplishment. Auburn fans felt like they had something over Alabama, usually being a trump card in conversations about the two programs.

Those comments apparently bothered more than fans.

Heading into the game against UConn, Oats admitted Alabama did not want Auburn to be the only in-state program with a Final Four on their resume. He apologized for taking so long to get there but now, the Final Four count between the two is even.

“We’re here,” Oats said. “We could not have the other school in the state having the only Final Four in the state. That didn’t sit well. That had to change. I’m sorry it took 5 years but we got it changed. We couldn’t have them having the only Final Four in the state.”

There is more to the graphic than just trolling Auburn, though.

Nelson’s dunk over Clingan is an iconic moment for Alabama and will never be forgotten. But Oats and his staff are hoping to bring him back for another season instead of testing the NBA waters. Murphy specifically adding Nelson to the graphic only builds the intrigue on his pending decision.

A lot for Alabama fans to digest in the graphic but you know most out there will love every part of it.