With all of the hype surrounding Alabama’s 2024-25 squad, it’s easy to forget the man who put it together could have departed Alabama for an opportunity elsewhere.

Alabama coach Nate Oats has been consistently linked to other top coaching jobs, as he’s helped turn the Crimson Tide into a contender while developing six players into NBA Draft picks over the last five seasons. Despite signing a hefty contract extension during the SEC Tournament this season, he was still reportedly an option for the previously vacant Kentucky role after John Calipari departed for Arkansas.

Instead, Oats stayed. He took the team that gave him his start at the Power Five level to its first Final Four, then reloaded by assembling the most talented roster in school history. He now has the chance to take Alabama to the very top, and he knows what accomplishing that would mean for the program.

“There’s schools with a lot better tradition, more basketball tradition that maybe you could've looked to go to,” Oats told college basketball analyst Andy Katz on Thursday. “But I’ve got three girls they all love it here. I’ve built a lot of friends here and I think we’re proving you can win. And I think if you won it all at a place like Alabama, it probably means a little bit more than winning it somewhere where they’ve got multiple national championships and multiple final fours every year.”

After an unprecedented Final Four run, Oats didn’t parlay his success into a job elsewhere. Instead, he wants to continue making history at the one he’s in. A few players from Alabama’s Final Four run feel similarly. In addition to its large transfer haul and elite 2024 recruiting class, Alabama also returned core players Mark Sears, Grant Nelson and Latrell Wrightsell Jr., as well as promising sophomores Jarin Stevenson and Mouhamed Dioubate.

Oats has built something special at Alabama. But he hasn’t done it alone, nor did he do it in a flash. He’s hired top assistants including Preston Murphy, who can take a large chunk of the credit for Alabama’s success in the portal and on the recruiting trail. Over five seasons in Tuscaloosa, Oats has also built a system that both appeals to a player’s aspirations and generates results at a high level.

“Guys want to make it to the NBA,” Oats said. “We’re running a system closer to the NBA than anybody in college basketball is playing and we’re showing you can win with it too."

That system will only become more difficult to stop for Alabama’s opponents next season. The Tide's returners will join forces with some quality newcomers that the coaching staff hand-picked to fit Oats' system and address the team’s needs. Alabama struggled on the defensive end, particularly in the paint last season. The answer: Rutgers center Clifford Omoruyi, who logged 93 blocks for the Scarlet Knights and turned down hefty NIL packages from other schools to play in Oats' NBA-style setup. On the recruiting trail, the Tide also landed five-star prospects Derrion Reid, Aiden Sherrell and four-star forward Naas Cunningham.

In the backcourt, Alabama went from a relatively thin rotation — which required Sears to log nearly 40 minutes a game in the back end of the season — to a deep unit that brought in Chris Youngblood (South Florida), Aden Holloway (Auburn), Houston Mallette (Pepperdine) and four-star freshman Labaron Philon. Adding in Sears' All-American ability along with Wrightsell’s strong shooting and defense and Oats should have the fortunate problem of figuring out the best combination of talented players to put Alabama in winning positions.

All of Alabama’s talent on paper creates expectation, which Oats is leaning into with the confidence of a coach who knows reaching the Final Four doesn’t have to be the peak for the Crimson Tide.

“We’re going to try and add another championship-caliber program in the athletic department here at Alabama because there’s a lot of them and we’re going to see if we can get it done,” Oats said. “I think we’ve got a roster that we’re going to compete for a national championship this year.”

Oats stayed in Tuscaloosa to win. He’s built a squad to do just that. Now, Oats and his reloaded roster will set out to put another banner in the rafters of Coleman Coliseum and add to the championship culture that has helped keep one of the nation’s best men’s basketball coaches there in the first place.