page_title: 2015–16 Alabama Crimson Tide men's basketball team
section_title: Coaching changes
hierarchical_section_title: 2015–16 Alabama Crimson Tide men's basketball team / Before the season / Coaching changes
caption_attribution_description: English: Avery Johnson coaching Alabama in a 2016 game against Arkansas.
context_page_description: The 2015–16 Alabama Crimson Tide men's basketball team represented the University of Alabama in the 2015–16 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Crimson Tide played its home games at Coleman Coliseum in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, as a member of the Southeastern Conference. Avery Johnson was in his inaugural season as head coach of the team. He was hired on April 6, 2015, to replace Anthony Grant, who was fired on March 15 after serving as Alabama's head coach for six seasons. The team finished the season 18–15, 8–10 in SEC play to finish in 10th place. They defeated Ole Miss in the second round of the SEC Tournament to advance to the quarterfinals where they lost to Kentucky. The Crimson Tide received an invitation to the National Invitation Tournament as a #5 seed, where the team lost to Creighton in the first round.
  Johnson's hiring sparked an atmosphere of excitement that was evident the moment he was hired and lasted throughout the season.
context_section_description: On March 15, three days after Alabama's loss to Florida in the SEC Tournament, UA athletic director Bill Battle released a statement announcing that Anthony Grant would not be retained as the head coach thereafter, presumably due to major fan dissatisfaction with the consistently mediocre seasons his teams produced, as evidenced by declining home attendance numbers. Later that day, Alabama received its invitation to the NIT. Stuck without a head coach, the school named assistant coach John Brannen as the interim head coach for the tournament.
  Following the conclusion of Alabama's season on March 21, Battle began intensively searching for a replacement for Grant. Early rumors indicated that Indiana head coach Tom Crean and then-Murray State head coach Steve Prohm (who attended Alabama) were Battle's biggest targets. However, over the next several days, those names gave way to that of Wichita State's Gregg Marshall, and it was reported on March 23 that Alabama was prepared to offer Marshall a contract in excess of $3 million per year. Then, on April 1, reports indicated that Marshall would soon visit Tuscaloosa with his family while pondering whether or not to take the Alabama job; however, later that day, it was confirmed that he had decided to stay at Wichita State.
  In an unusual move, Battle addressed Marshall's decision to remain at Wichita State in a public statement. With his first option ruled out, Battle contacted former National Basketball Association player and coach Avery Johnson, who expressed considerable interest in the job. Johnson had not been a coach since 2012, and had never coached at the collegiate level (having only been the head coach of the NBA's Dallas Mavericks and New Jersey/Brooklyn Nets). Despite that, Battle quickly arranged to meet with Johnson and his family and hired him shortly afterward on April 6. It was later reported that at the time of his meeting with Battle, Johnson was just days away from signing a contract extension as an analyst with ESPN. He was formally introduced as the new Alabama head coach on April 8.
  Johnson subsequently hired two assistant coaches, while retaining former Alabama player Antoine Pettway as an assistant coach for his fifth year with the program and Lou DeNeen as the strength and conditioning coach for his third year with the program. On April 20, he hired Providence assistant coach Bob Simon as his associate head coach, and then on June 4, he hired "legendary" AAU coach Scott Pospichal as a third assistant.
caption: The 2015–16 season was Avery Johnson's first at Alabama.
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