UA Head Basketball Coach Nate Oats Discusses Building a Winning Team
President Chuck Redden and Rotarian Johnny Roberts with Nate Oats
On June 21, 2023, the Rotary Club of Birmingham welcomed Nate Oats, University of Alabama Head Men’s Basketball Coach. He shared what it takes to build a winning team, on and off the court.
About Nate Oats
When Nate Oats was formally introduced as head men’s basketball coach at The University of Alabama on March 28, 2019, he promised fans would see an entertaining, up-tempo and fast-paced style of play. And that’s exactly what he has delivered during his time in Tuscaloosa.
During his four years at the helm of the program, Oats has compiled 92 wins, highlighted by a pair of SEC Regular Season championships, two SEC Tournament championships and two trips to the Sweet 16. Oats joins C.M. Newton as the only two Alabama head coaches that have led UA to multiple SEC regular season championships and the only coach in program history to win multiple SEC regular season and tournament championships.
As a result, Oats was rewarded midway through the 2022-23 season with a contract extension that is set to keep him in charge of the Crimson Tide basketball program through March 14, 2029.
"I am honored and humbled to receive a contract extension from The University of Alabama," Oats said." As I have said many times, my family and I love this community, the city of Tuscaloosa and the University. I am incredibly proud of what we have been able to build during our time at UA which is a direct reflection of the student-athletes, coaches and staff who have all played a big part in our success. I am excited for what's happening in the future of our program and the direction we are heading. I cannot thank President Stuart Bell, Chancellor St. John, The Board of Trustees and Greg Byrne enough for trusting me to lead this program for the long term."
During Oats’ four years at the helm, the Tide have compiled 49 Southeastern Conference wins, which is tied for the most in the SEC along with Kentucky highlighted by winning the 2023 SEC Regular Season championship at home against Auburn. Against the top teams across the country, Oats and the Crimson Tide have risen to the challenge as UA has 15 AP Top 25 wins including defeating the No. 1 team in the country twice during the 2022-23 season, becoming the first team since 1965-66 (Duke) with multiple wins over the AP No. 1 team before the New Year.
Entering his fifth season in 2023-24, Oats has compiled a record of 92-42 (.687) at The Capstone and owns a career record of 188-85 (.689) through eight seasons as a D-I head coach, which include four years as the head coach at Buffalo. However, it’s not just Oats’ record that is beginning to turn the proverbial heads across the college basketball landscape. It’s the fact that he has revitalized an Alabama basketball fanbase and returned the Crimson Tide as one of the top collegiate basketball programs in the nation.
Oats led Alabama to a historical 2022-23 season, as the Tide were ranked the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history. Ranked in the AP Top 25 all season, the Tide had a program-record seven top-25 wins and ranked as the No. 1 rebounding team in the nation, averaging 44.6 rebounds per game. Alabama was led by Brandon Miller, who became the first player in SEC history to win SEC Freshman of the Year, Player of the Year and Tournament MVP in the same season.
An indicator of Alabama’s resurgence can be seen by looking at the last three NBA Drafts. Prior to his arrival, the Tide had just one men’s basketball player selected among the top 15 picks from 1992-2019. As a coach who is known for developing talent, Oats has now had an Alabama player selected in the NBA Draft Lottery (top-14 pick) in back-to-back years – a first in program history. The New Orleans Pelicans selected Kira Lewis Jr. No. 13 overall in the 2020 NBA Draft Lottery while Joshua Primo was taken by the San Antonio Spurs at No. 12, making UA one of three schools across the nation to have an NBA Lottery pick in each of the last two drafts.
Furthermore, Herbert Jones was taken by the Pelicans with the fifth pick in the second round (No. 35 overall) of the 2021 Draft which gave Alabama two players drafted in the same year for the 11th time in program history and the first since 1995. That Tide was also one of only 11 schools nationwide to have more than one player selected. In the 2022 NBA Draft, JD Davison was picked in the second round (No. 53 overall) by the Boston Celtics, marking the third straight year the Tide have had a player selected in the NBA Draft.
Both Primo and Jones earned their way onto draft boards as a result of one of the best seasons in the 100-plus years of Alabama basketball. The 2020-21 Alabama squad claimed both the Southeastern Conference regular season and tournament championships – the only power five program to sweep both the regular season and tournament titles in 2021 – and reached the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 for the first time since 2004.
The season’s success snapped some lengthy dry spells within the program as Oats guided Alabama to its first conference championship in 19 years (dating back to 2002), first tournament championship in 30 years (dating back to 1991) and first Sweet 16 showing in 17 years (dating back to 2004). As a result, Oats was named the 2021 SEC Coach of the Year, making him the fourth Alabama head coach to earn the recognition while he earned the accolade for the third time in his career (Mid-American Conference Coach of the Year in 2018 and 2019). Oats was also honored as the United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) and the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) District Coach of the Year and was one of four finalists for the 2021 Naismith National Coach of the Year.
Meanwhile, both Jones (SEC Player of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, First Team, All-Defensive Team) and Primo (SEC All-Freshman) were two of four Tide players to earn league postseason honors in 2021, joining John Petty Jr. (All-SEC First Team) and Jaden Shackelford (All-SEC Second Team). Jones became the first UA player since 2002 (Erwin Dudley) to earn the accolade as the league’s top player and the only Crimson Tide player to earn the league’s top defensive honor since the award’s inception back in 2003.
It marked the second straight season Oats has boasted four all-conference players on his team. In addition to the eight players who have earned SEC postseason honors, Oats has coached three NBA Draft picks, three SEC First Team honorees, the 2021 SEC Tournament MVP and the 2021 SEC Player and Defensive Player of the Year. Across his two years, the Tide has combined to lead the nation in three-pointers made per game (10.7), total three-point shots made (682) and total threes attempted (1,946) over the two-year span while averaging more than 80.5 points per game and breaking several school and conference records along the way. Additionally, UA has collected 35 games (out of the 64 he has coached) of scoring 80 or more points, including a school-record 19 such contests in 2020-21.
Similar to his expectations on the court, Oats places a high emphasis off the court, particularly in the classroom and the community. Since take over the reigns in 2019, 29 men’s basketball players have been named to either the SEC Academic Honor Roll or SEC First Year Honor Roll while earned have graduated and earned a diploma. Additionally, the team set a record for cumulative grade point average in 2022 while maintaining a team GPA over above 3.25 during his time at the helm.
The program’s success has also resulted positively on the recruiting trail as Oats and his staff have signed back-to-back top-10 recruiting classes in 2020 and 2021. Excluding graduate transfers and JUCO signees, of the eight signed players during Oats’ two seasons at Alabama, four have been five-star prospects while the other four were all rated as four-star signees. Moreover, the 2020-21 team alone features three McDonald’s All-Americans (Jahvon Quinerly, Nimari Burnett and JD Davison).
Whether it’s on the court, in the classroom or out recruiting future Crimson Tide stars, Oats’ has returned a winning attitude around the Alabama program. Much of that he credits to instilling three core values that make up the pillars on which the team’s culture is built – Max Effort, Continuous Growth and Selfless Love.
“We have three core values, and we established a culture playbook,” Oats said. “We talk about maximum effort – that’s every workout, weight room session and every practice our guys are going to give max effort, and we’re going to demand a lot out of them. Continuous growth is another core value. We’re going to get better every day. We need guys that want to get in the gym and work on their own. We’re going to get a culture in which they want to get better every day and that goes for academics and growing as young men as well. Selfless love. We’re going to teach our guys how to love each other and love this community and treat each other well.”
The breakthrough 2020-21 season came one year removed from a 16-15 mark and an 8-10 record in SEC play in 2019-20. Despite the record, the Crimson Tide made a huge leap offensively. After ranking near the bottom of the SEC in most offensive statistics the previous year, Alabama led the league in six offensive categories, including points per game (82.0), three-point field goal percentage (34.9 percent) and threes made per game (10.8), among others.
Nationally, the new-look offense ranked No. 3 in points and threes made per game, while also ranking sixth with 334 total threes made and fourth with 957 three-point attempts – both of which set program records until that record was broken in 2021. The Tide’s pace of play also ranked among the fastest in the country, as UA was fourth in raw tempo (76.1) and average possession length (15.2).
Prior to arriving in Tuscaloosa, Oats spent four seasons at the helm of the University of Buffalo where he took the men’s basketball program to unprecedented heights. While there, Oats led the Bulls to a 96-43 (.691) record, three MAC tournament championships and three NCAA Tournament appearances, including reaching the round of 32 in 2018 and 2019. As a result, he was named the league's coach of the year and National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) District 14 Coach of the Year in back-to-back seasons (2018 and 2019).
During the 2018-19 campaign, Oats guided Buffalo to a 32-4 overall record and a 16-2 mark in conference play, leading the program to its second consecutive MAC regular season and tournament championships. The Bulls were ranked for 20 weeks in the Associated Press Top-25 during the 2019 season, which marked the first time in school history the program had earned a national ranking. Buffalo went on to climb as high as No. 14 in the nation which was the highest ranking by any MAC team over the previous 40 years. Additionally, the 32 victories not only set a program record, but were the most ever by any Mid-American men's basketball program. Oats would go on to finish fourth in voting for the AP Men's College Coach of the Year.
During the 2017-18 season, he led the Bulls to a record of 27-9 overall and 15-3 in the MAC. In doing so, he secured Buffalo's first victory in the NCAA Tournament, defeating No. 4 seed and PAC-12 Champion Arizona, 89-68, in Boise, Idaho.
Over that two-year span, Buffalo finished with a combined record of 59-13 (.819), while earning a pair of MAC Tournament and regular season championships, two NCAA Tournament Round of 32 appearances and consecutive MAC Coach of the Year honors.
Oats was named head coach of the UB men's program on April 11, 2015, after spending two seasons as the top assistant and recruiting coordinator for the Bulls. He came to Buffalo from Romulus High School in Michigan, where he taught and coached one of the top high school basketball programs in the region. In his two seasons as an assistant coach under Bobby Hurley, Oats helped lead the Bulls to a 42-20 record, back-to-back MAC East Titles, a MAC regular season title, a MAC Tournament title and UB's first ever trip to the NCAA Tournament.
Prior to joining the Bulls, Oats spent 11 seasons as head coach at Romulus High School in Michigan, winning the school's first state title in 27 years in 2012-13 and finishing the season at 27-1. He was named the 2013 Detroit News State Coach of the Year, the Detroit Free Press State Coach of the Year, and the BCAM State Coach of the Year.
Oats’ honors also include 2009 Basketball Coaches Association of Michigan Class A Coach of the Year, 2008 Detroit Free Press Metro Detroit Coach of the Year, and 2005 Detroit News Metro Detroit Coach of the Year and Detroit Free Press Metro West Coach of the Year.
In his time as a head coach, he led the team to a 222-52 overall record and seven straight conference championships while going undefeated in conference play over four consecutive seasons. The team was ranked in the top-25 nationally on three occasions (2010, 2011, 2013) and made the Michigan Class A Final Four five times. More importantly, he oversaw a program that had a 100 percent graduation rate with 40 of his 42 seniors at Romulus continuing on to college.
Before coaching at Romulus, he played basketball at Maranatha Baptist University in Wisconsin where was a captain and all-conference performer, while earning his bachelor's degree in Math Education. Oats went on to become an assistant coach at Maranatha from 1997 to 2000. After that, he moved on to the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater from 2000-02.
Nate and his wife Crystal are the proud parents of three girls – Lexie, Jocie and Brielle.