Looking back, our big successes in basketball have often come at times when the football team was off a bit. Exception being in the mid-70s under CM Newton, while Bryant was in the middle of his second heyday.
But we've been successful at the national level in softball, gymnastics and most recently golf. There's no reason we can't be successful in basketball as well. I agree that facilities are an issue, though. Personally, I'd rather scrape the Coliseum and build something else entirely -- probably in the 10,000 capacity range.
Interesting side note: Memorial Coliseum pushing twice as old today, as Foster Auditorium was when it was replaced by Memorial. Foster was built in 1939, and replaced by the Coliseum in 1968, 29 years later. Acknowledging a couple of major renovations, Memorial is now over 50 years old.
But I'm told that the difference between gutting the existing building and replacing it entirely is about $50MM. A big number, even for Alabama.