Alabama basketball will reportedly face a familiar foe during non-conference play next season. According to Jon Rothstein, the Crimson Tide has scheduled a Nov. 11 home game against McNeese State.

The Cowboys are coached by Will Wade, formerly the head coach at LSU. The Alabama game will be his first against an SEC opponent since being fired by the Tigers in 2022, when the NCAA served LSU with a notice of allegations.

Wade was hired at McNeese to start the 2023-24 campaign. He had to serve a 10-game suspension to start the season, and is also in the midst of a two-year show-cause penalty that subjects him to various recruiting restrictions.

He led the Cowboys to a 30-4 record last season. They fell to Gonzaga in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

Wade’s tenure at LSU saw him and Alabama head coach Nate Oats develop a rivalry. That culminated in a one-point Crimson Tide victory in the 2021 SEC Tournament championship game.

Oats and company have been hard at work building up next season’s non-conference schedule, after the 2023-24 season ended in the Tide’s first Final Four run in program history.

In addition to McNeese State, Alabama will play games against Creighton, Illinois and Purdue. Oats has stated his scheduling philosophy is to schedule difficult games early in non-conference play, in order to better prepare his team for the grind late in the season.