Alabama basketball to play exhibition against Memphis in Huntsville
Alabama basketball fans can travel to the north side of the state to get their first look at the highly-anticipated 2024-25 squad in late October. The Crimson Tide will face off against Memphis in an exhibition game open to the public on Oct. 28 at the Von Braun Center in Huntsville, it was announced on Monday.
“We are excited and looking forward to partnering with Memphis for this meaningful event in Huntsville,” Alabama head coach Nate Oats said. “This exhibition game is a chance to benefit the Huntsville Hospital Foundation and give back to people in need which goes beyond basketball. We look forward to seeing our fans in Huntsville and the opportunity to play a quality program in Memphis.”
The 2024-25 season officially starts on Monday, Nov. 4, but in recent years a trend has started within college basketball of notable teams playing in open exhibition games for fans to attend. The game, dubbed the Rocket City Classic, will have tickets available for sale starting Friday, Aug. 23.
Alabama and Memphis recently completed a home-and-home, which took place during the 2021-22 and 2022-23 seasons. Memphis won the first meeting at FedEx Forum in December 2021, while Alabama won the return trip in Coleman Coliseum in December 2022.
Memphis has consistently been an NCAA Tournament-caliber team under head coach Penny Hardaway, and the Tigers should give Alabama decent test ahead of a brutal non-conference schedule to open the season.
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The Crimson Tide has played many closed scrimmages against high-level teams in past preseasons, such as TCU and Wake Forest last season, but the team hasn’t played an open preseason exhibition since playing St. Bonaventure in Foster Auditorium ahead of the 2022-23 season.
Coming off an appearance in the 2024 Final Four, as well as bringing in the No. 2-ranked recruiting class and a top-ranked transfer portal class, the hype around the Alabama basketball program has never been higher. The Crimson Tide also returned All-American point guard Mark Sears, adding to the excitement.
There’s a very strong chance Alabama could see its program-best preseason ranking entering the 2024-25 season, with multiple college basketball analysts picking the Crimson Tide as their preseason No. 1 team.
