LOOK: Alabama releases renderings for proposed basketball arena

Move over football, there’s a new major sport in town. Just one season after capturing their seventh SEC Tournament championship, the Alabama Crimson Tide basketball program is set to undergo a massive change to their basketball arena.

Here’s the design Alabama athletics has proposed:

A few renderings of the proposed new Alabama basketball arena. https://t.co/cnSaAivEXY pic.twitter.com/pkzFyCQxge

— Michael Casagrande (@ByCasagrande) February 3, 2022

The new arena would seat approximately 10,136 fans and will cost the athletic department around $183 million. There is no confirmation of the site of the arena yet, but they are considering areas such as the parking lot next to Coleman Coliseum, the band practice field on University Boulevard, another off Jack Warner Parkway and one more on McFarland Boulevard.

For those of us that are visual learners, here are some of the locations in contention and where they’d land in terms of Alabama’s campus:

Four possible locations for the new Alabama basketball arena were presented in the board meeting. One is listed as the preferred location in the packet of info given to board members. https://t.co/cnSaAivEXY pic.twitter.com/kroSY89Tix

— Michael Casagrande (@ByCasagrande) February 3, 2022

Coleman Coliseum was built in 1968 and holds 15,383 fans. Alabama renovated the arena in 2005, but rather than do it again 17 years later, Byrne is pushing to build a new, modern arena instead.

Byrne also said the student section would wrap around three-quarters of the court. In addition, the 2,200 students in attendance would be closer to the court than they are now at Coleman. Officials are considering multiple sites for the new arena, including a parking lot next to Coleman Coliseum and a band practice field on University Boulevard, according to Michael Casagrande of AL.com.

Casagrande also reported that these locations are just speculation and rumors — the only thing set in stone is that there will in fact be a new stadium on campus sooner rather than later.

“We went and studied some other arenas,” Alabama athletic director Greg Byrne said, via the Tuscaloosa News’ Nick Kelly. “We would recommend potentially constructing a new arena.”

There is no timetable for the completion of the new arena, but the initial projections in the board documents call for construction to begin around April of 2023.

Alabama is 14-8 overall and 4-5 in SEC play so far this year. The Crimson Tide sure like playing at Coleman, though, boasting a 10-1 record at their home arena this year. Their lone home loss came Jan. 11 against No. 1 Auburn, 81-77.

After its latest loss to Auburn earlier this week, Alabama will return home to Coleman this weekend for a key SEC matchup with No. 5 Kentucky. That game tips off Saturday night at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN.