Alabama men’s basketball will celebrate history Friday night as it hangs a banner inside Coleman Coliseum to mark its first-ever Final Four appearance.
This past spring’s dream run defied the odds as a stumbling Crimson Tide appeared dead in the water late in the 2023-24 season. Alabama lost four of its final six games, limping into the NCAA Tournament as a No. 4 seed. From there, the Tide flipped a switch, putting together the most memorable two weeks in program history.
Alabama started its run with a 109-96 shootout win over No. 13 seed Charleston before advancing to the Sweet 16 with a gritty 72-61 victory over No. 12 seed Grand Canyon. From there, the Tide shocked the nation with an 89-87 upset over No. 1 North Carolina before punching its ticket to the Final Four by beating No. 6 seed Clemson, 89-82. Despite falling to eventual national champion UConn in the semifinals, the run announced the Tide as a new contender.
More importantly, it provided Nate Oats plenty of momentum to rebuild his roster heading into the offseason.
Along with convincing starters Mark Sears and Grant Nelson to hold off on their professional careers, Alabama also retained key contributors from last year’s run in Latrell Wrightsell Jr., Jarin Stevenson and Mouhamed Dioubate. From there, Oats added one of the nation’s premier rim protectors in Rutgers transfer Clifford Omoruyi while also bolstering his backcourt with the additions of Auburn transfer Aden Holloway South Florida transfer Chris Youngblood and Pepperdine transfer Houston Mallette.
The Tide also put together the nation’s No. 3 recruiting class, reeling in a pair of five-star McDonald’s All-Americans in Derrion Reid and Aiden Sherell as well as fellow top-50 prospects in guard Labaron Philon and forward Naas Cunningham.
Restocked for another run this year, Alabama will look to beat the odds again and join an elite group of teams to advance to back-to-back Final Fours.
Since the NCAA Tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1985, only 20 teams have completed the feat. Here’s a look at the five most recent teams to make consecutive Final Four appearances.
