The Alabama men’s basketball team honored its 2024 Final Four run with an action-packed banner unveiling event at Coleman Coliseum on Friday. The first 2,000 fans in the door received posters and a replica banner commemorating the event.
In addition to unveiling the banner, the event featured a live scrimmage, a 3-point contest, a dunk contest and an interview with head coach Nate Oats.
During his interview, Oats expressed his enthusiasm for the upcoming season and encouraged fans to continue to support the program.
“We have a great staff … and we’re super excited about the roster we’ve built,” he said. “Let’s make sure the place is packed for those first three home games, because we are a basketball school now. We got to a Final Four and we’re going to be playing for national championships.”
Before the curtain was dropped from the banner, players and coaching staff from last season’s team were honored with Final Four rings. Afterward, Oats talked about the moment and what it meant to him and his team, repeating the sentiment that Alabama is becoming a basketball school and saying the unveiling was “a special moment.”
During the scrimmage, the usual suspects stood out, with All-American guard Mark Sears and forward Grant Nelson playing well, but it was Rutgers transfer Clifford Omoruyi who turned heads the most with his play in the paint on both ends of the floor. Omoruyi came out of the gate hot, throwing down a pair of dunks and securing a block on Nelson, all in the first half alone.
The evening was an opportunity for everyone who has been a part of the Alabama basketball community to take a moment and reflect on the level of greatness this program has achieved.
“We’re here to celebrate something that they said would never, and could never be done,” Alabama play-by-play announcer Chris Stewart said.
