What Does It Mean? The hiring of Nate Oats

On Wednesday, Alabama announced the hiring of new men’s basketball coach Nate Oats. Today, Jordan Harper, our basketball analyst at BamaInsider.com provides a more in-depth look at Oats.

John Petty Jr., Daniel Giddens enter NCAA transfer portal

Nate Oats already on the recruiting trail

Nate Oats has been officially named the new head basketball coach for Alabama. Oats is a former high school math teacher, who is also a state champion coach. Oats coached at Romulus High School for 11 years where he had a record of 222-52. He made the state semi-finals five times and won the state championship in 2013.

Oats was named an assistant to Bobby Hurley at Buffalo in 2013. He was a key recruiter for the staff and signed the 2014-15 MAC player of the year Justin Moss. He took over for Hurley when he left for Arizona St in 2015. After winning the conference tournament in 2016, Oats was given an extension through 2023 by current Auburn AD Allen Greene.

Oats led Buffalo to the NCAA Tournament three out of the four years he coached there and won two games. The most notable win was the 89-68 stomping of #4 seed Arizona last year as a #13 seed.

They most recently won big over Arizona St and his mentor Bobby Hurley, before eventually falling to Texas Tech on Sunday. Oats boasts a 96-43 record at Buffalo in 4 years. A 59-13 record the past two years which is remarkable.

They reached as high as #14 in the AP Poll this past season. Oats recently received another extension through 2025 13 days ago, before eventually stepping down to take a position as Alabama's head basketball coach.

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