Season after season, college basketball looks more and more like the NBA. From the style of play that Alabama basketball coach Nate Oats helped popularize to practice facilities coming to the Crimson Tide, it’s happening in Tuscaloosa.
A few years back, Kentucky, Duke and Villanova were among the first to adopt general managers for their teams, with fellow bluebloods UConn and UNC following suit in 2025. The growing trend doesn’t stop there, though. This year, Auburn, Oats’ former Buffalo, along with Iona, Wisconsin and Davidson — which hired NBA star Steph Curry as an assistant general manager to head Austin Buntz — have added GMs to their rosters.
Only a few days ago, Rutgers posted a job listing for a “Basketball General Manager” that would serve both its men’s and women’s teams, promoting a salary that ranges anywhere from $150K to $300K.
With both basketball programs at the University of Alabama on the rise — the men coming off of consecutive runs to the Final Four and Elite Eight — it’s hard to imagine that hiring a GM isn’t on the table for the Crimson Tide.
In an interview with the Tuscaloosa News, UA Director of Athletics Greg Byrne shared what’s in store for the organizational future for Alabama basketball.
“Right now, Coach Oats and I have talked about it. Coach (Kristy) Curry and I have talked about it. There’s been discussions there, too,” Byrne said.
Conversations about the change have taken place, but Alabama’s approach at this point is simple.
If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
Will hiring a general manager be the next NBA trend adopted by Alabama basketball?
“We like the model that we have,” Byrne said. He highlighted Alabama football general manager Courtney Morgan, who joined the staff in 2024, and noted the addition has “worked really well” for coach Kalen DeBoer’s crew.
That being said, masterminds like men’s assistant coach Preston Murphy, who teamed up with Oats and company in July 2023, and women’s assistant coach and recruiting coordinator Brooks Donald Williams, who re-joined the program in 2025, are working out for their respective programs.
“I think this recruiting structure that we have for our men’s basketball program and women’s basketball program have worked well,” Byrne said. “Right now, that’s what we’re focused on.”
If Alabama men’s basketball were to add a GM, Murphy is a shoo-in. After all, while the Crimson Tide was preparing to face BYU in the Sweet 16 as the transfer portal opened, Oats said himself that Murphy was “essentially” the team’s general manager.
In a March interview with Sirius XM SEC Radio, Oats was lamenting the early transfer portal window and suggested he understood why teams are implementing the GM model.
“I don’t like it now, because if you’re still playing, you should be focused on what you’re doing, not focused on who’s in the portal and recruiting for next year,” Oats told Sirius XM SEC Radio. “Which is where I think the GM role is starting to come into play, and if you’ve got a GM who is not a coach.”
Alas, Oats has expressed he doesn’t want to lose Murphy’s role on the sideline because he’s a “really good coach,” and will settle for the “de facto” GM he coined the former pro as in September 2024.
So, an Alabama basketball GM isn’t out of the question. It’s just not a move that’ll be made anytime soon.
Each playing exhibition matchups against Florida State, Alabama men’s and women’s basketball return to action Thursday, Oct. 16.
Emilee Smarr covers Alabama basketball and Crimson Tide athletics for the Tuscaloosa News. She can be reached via email at esmarr@gannett.com.
