2015–16 Alabama Crimson Tide men's basketball team

The 2015–16 Alabama Crimson Tide men's basketball team (variously "Alabama", "UA", "Bama" or "The Tide") 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. When he was introduced to the school on April 8, he promised that his basketball program would aspire to reach the Final Four, something an Alabama team has never accomplished; in fact, Alabama has only reached the Elite Eight once, in 2004. In stark contrast to Grant's quiet, unassuming demeanor, Johnson offered enthusiasm and pep throughout the summer months, attending numerous dinners, visiting football practices, and appearing on television, all to further promote the basketball program. This evidently paid off, as the 2015–16 season destroyed the school record for home attendance, with an average of 13,110 people at each game in the 15,383-seat Coleman Coliseum. The previous record average was 12,484. The coliseum also sold out five times for the first time since the 2006–07 season.

As for the season itself, the team shook off two early blowouts to make a splash on the national scene, upsetting two ranked teams in the AdvoCare Invitational. The Tide finished its non-conference schedule with nine wins and three losses, the same number of non-conference losses as the previous season. Coincidentally, just like the 2014–15 season, all three teams that the Crimson Tide lost to made the NCAA tournament. The team suffered an awful start to conference play, losing five of its first six games, although the one win did come against a ranked, undefeated South Carolina squad. Then Alabama surged, winning six of its next seven games to catapult into the NCAA Tournament conversation with five games remaining in the regular season. However, the Tide went 1–4 in those games to move itself off of the tournament bubble and into the bottom half of the middling SEC. One win in the SEC Tournament was enough to get Alabama an at-large NIT bid, but a blowout on the road at Creighton in the first round ended the season.

Redshirt senior guard Retin Obasohan was far and away the team's leader and biggest contributor during the season. After serving as nothing more than a role-player for his first three seasons playing at the Capstone, Obasohan was charged with the duties of team co-captain and senior leader after the graduation of starters Levi Randolph and Rodney Cooper from the prior season, and he was also eventually charged with filling the starting point guard role after a season-ending injury to freshman Dazon Ingram. Obasohan exceedingly fulfilled those responsibilities, upping his scoring average from 6.2 to 17.6 points per game and refining his defensive skills, while also serving as the driving force behind the team's emotion and energy. In recognition of his exceptional season, Obasohan was named to the All-SEC First Team and the All-SEC Defensive Team. He was also named the SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year. Obasohan ended his career at UA ranked in the top ten of Alabama's career steals leaders, the top 20 of Alabama's single-season points leaders (for his 2015–16 season), and the top 40 of Alabama's career points leaders.