Alabama women's basketball returning to Coleman Coliseum
Kristy Curry likes Foster Auditorium, but she’s excited about Coleman Coliseum.
The University of Alabama women’s basketball program will move back into Coleman Coliseum, the arena where the UA men play, starting in the 2016-17 season. The Crimson Tide, which relocated to Foster Auditorium in 2011, will play all home games in Coleman but will continue to house coaching offices in Foster and use it as a primary practice facility. UA announced the move a little more than two weeks ago.
“There were more pros than cons (to moving),” said Curry, UA’s head coach since 2013. “Over the course of time, it was how are we growing and continuing to step forward.”
UA players have embraced the news.
“It was big news. It was very exciting,” said NeNe Bolton, a junior forward from Anniston. “To be able to expand our fan base and bring the atmosphere that we have here (at Foster) into Coleman, I think it will be great.”
Moving out of Foster Auditorium was part of the discussion when Curry interviewed for the job, but she was willing to see how things worked as she rebuilt the program.
“I don’t know that it was so much that we were pushing for it,” she said.
Two key reasons for the move were recruiting and growing UA’s fan base. Foster Auditorium has little available parking, and while UA drew more than 3,000 a few times there it was pushing the limits of the building’s capacity for basketball. Coleman has ample parking and a capacity of more than 15,000.
“We feel like from a fan-friendly standpoint, we got to where for some games there weren’t a lot of great seats left,” Curry said.
Attracting top recruits while competing against schools that play women’s games in the same, large arena as the men’s games was also a challenge.
“It came up frequently,” Curry said. “Is is a factor in recruiting? Certainly it is, just as your dorms are and other things. It wasn’t a negative, but it will definitely be a positive (at Coleman).”
Playing in bigger arenas on the road will also be a more familiar experience going forward.
“The opportunity to play in Coleman, that will help us to play in different environments,” the coach said. “I think it will make us a better road team.”
Alabama will maintain meeting rooms – as well as locker room, training room and weight room facilities – at Foster Auditorium. It will be the program’s day-to-day home, but Curry expects to practice at Coleman on the day before games, and perhaps at other times.
“This is a special place,” Curry said of Foster. “We love having it as our home every day.”
UA is also preparing a locker room for the women’s team at Coleman.
“They told us about the old baseball locker room being renovated,” said Hannah Cook, a junior guard from Ozark, Mo. “There’s going to be a nutrition bar in there and I think more TVs, bigger TVs, and just more space. I’m super excited about it.”
Alabama played women’s basketball in Coleman from 1984 until moving to Foster late in the 2010-11 season. In each of the past two seasons, Alabama has played two games in Coleman Coliseum in doubleheaders with the men’s team. Cook, who shot 36.5 percent from 3-point range last season, said Coleman favors her game.
“It’s nice,” she said. “It’s bigger. It’s brighter. The goals are nicer, the rims, for a shooter like me. I like the rims in that gym.”
Coleman Coliseum opened in 1968 (as Memorial Coliseum) as a facility for athletics – particularly basketball – and campus events like graduations, and has also hosted concerts and other activities.
Foster Auditorium was built in 1939 and hosted the men’s basketball team from that year until 1968, when Coleman opened. UA’s women’s athletic program was housed there from the 1970s into the early ’80s.
Reach Tommy Deas at tommy@tidesports.com or at 205-722-0224.