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Alabama Basketball building new practice facility

sosoblue

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Aug 18, 2004
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Alabama AD is going all in on the basketball program and Nate Oats. Alabama should never be ahead of the UK basketball program in facilites. I know Cal wanted a new practice facility before he left UK. I wonder if it something that Mitch will consider before he retires.

 
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Football fans won't allow it.... Football fans in Alabama are in their own world.

I bet my pond in Summerville SC has five or six chairs in it by now. A neighbor two houses away via the pond chunked a chair two different times into our pond.... A nice guy except when Alabama loses a football game...

Can't imagine what a rivalry inside the school will cause...
 
Just curious how all that works? How do Universities distribute the money?
Alabama’s athletic department is self-sustaining, just like UK’s. So, the university does not provide funding for projects like this. Projects still need to be approved by the BOT’s. If the project needs funding through the state (not all funded by gifts), then the project needs to fit within the bond debt capacity of the university…and that is where it can get stuck at times.
 
Football fans won't allow it.... Football fans in Alabama are in their own world.

I bet my pond in Summerville SC has five or six chairs in it by now. A neighbor two houses away via the pond chunked a chair two different times into our pond.... A nice guy except when Alabama loses a football game...

Can't imagine what a rivalry inside the school will cause...
I’ve lived in Summerville since 1990. Paducah is my home
 
Football fans won't allow it.... Football fans in Alabama are in their own world.

I bet my pond in Summerville SC has five or six chairs in it by now. A neighbor two houses away via the pond chunked a chair two different times into our pond.... A nice guy except when Alabama loses a football game...

Can't imagine what a rivalry inside the school will cause...
That’s ridiculous. What do football fans have anything to do with new basketball facilities?

UK is known for having a great basketball program, but our football facilities are top-notch nationally.
 
Bama must be sitting on a gold mine. They just built a new 50 million dollar golf facility for their golf teams.

Link here
That's all private money through their athletic department foundation. I have a feeling Justin Thomas probably donated a nice little chunk for that facility. Also helps that one of their most successful alums owns a golf course design, turf and irrigation company.

But that is an impressive facility!
 
Alabama AD is going all in on the basketball program and Nate Oats. Alabama should never be ahead of the UK basketball program in facilites. I know Cal wanted a new practice facility before he left UK. I wonder if it something that Mitch will consider before he retires.

2 things

Barney should have let cal build the facility. He had former players lined up to pay for it.

Pope needs to go to these former players to help contribute to an upgrade. Especially guys like Kat and booker. Players who have shown their allegiance is to the program not the coach. Get John wall to spearhead the effort. These guys are getting younger. Strike while the iron is hot
 
The time to secure Oats was after the 2023 season. Once he made the final four and Bama extended him it was going to be tough as UK and Barnie are cheap.

Going to be fascinating to see Pope vs Oats in the years to come.
 
Here’s a thought: Do practice facilities really matter that much in the NIL era?

That used to be considered sort of a backdoor way of paying players when it was illegal by other means: “Hey, look at the super-expensive fancy new facilities we’ll be giving you to use!” But I doubt it impresses players so much now that they can be paid straight through the front door. They’ll take a fatter NIL check over newer facilities in a heartbeat.
 
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