It appears that Tina Langley's name has popped up on a short list for Alabama's women's basketball coach. She's slowly built a great program at Washington and continues to elevate the program each season. And as she rises, her name will start to pop up for other programs. What makes Alabama special? She grew up in Tuscaloosa and would be headed back home if Alabama could lure her away.
Alabama wouldn't have to pay much for Langley's buyout after next week. According to Mitchell Northam, the buyout would only be $175 thousand after April 1. That's not going to deter the Crimson Tide away if Bama does want to swoop in. For Washington, it would be frustrating as another successful coach at UW gets stolen by Alabama.
I got a copy of Washington coach Tina Langley’s contract. She’ll make about $720K this year. On April 1, buyout drops to $175K.
— Mitchell Northam (@primetimeMitch) March 25, 2026
Noteworthy, considering she grew up and went to college not far from Tuscaloosa.
Alabama is not using a search firm to find Curry’s successor. #ncaaW
The time is now for Washington to sign Tina Langley to a contract extension
Related: Washington falls to TCU, with next season’s ceiling depending on 3 returns
Pat Chun, Washington's athletic director, has to find a way to keep Langley in-house. Especially with a buyout dropping soon. Washington has had its first NCAA Tournament appearance in nearly a decade. She's led each season to record improvement. Langley brings in top recruits and has a young core that feels like it could go deep next season.
Washington shouldn't be the stepping stone for Alabama to come and take our best coaches (cough, cough, Kalen DeBoer). It's a frustrating experience, but the deal is not done, and mostly it's just rumors right now. The biggest draw for Langley would be going home.
However, she hasn't lived in Alabama for 30 years. She started her coaching career as an assistant in Toledo in 1998. She then went to Clemson, Georgia, and Maryland before finally landing her first head-coaching gig at Rice. She went 126–61 in her time at Rice, which prompted her to get hired by Washington.
Since being at Washington, she's gone 7–16 in her first year, 19–15 in her second year, and 16–15 in her third year as part of the Pac-12. Then she helped the Huskies make the jump to the Big Ten and has had more success, going 19–14 and now 22-11. It would be a tough loss for a program that is still rebuilding and is looking like it's on the verge of being rebuilt.