Alabama men's basketball schedules charity exhibition vs. Memphis

Alabama has scheduled an intriguing exhibition game ahead of the 2024-25 college basketball season. The Crimson Tide will take on Memphis in The Rocket City Classic, it was announced on Monday.

The Von Braun Center in Huntsville, Alabama, which is where the game will be played, revealed the news.

The matchup will benefit charity and will take place on Monday, Oct. 28.

Alabama is coming off of an impressive 2023-24 season that saw the Crimson Tide reach the Final Four for the first time in program history.

Nate Oats’ team played its best basketball at the end of the season as Alabama beat Charleston, Grand Canyon, North Carolina and Clemson on its way to the Final Four. The Crimson Tide ended up falling to eventual national champion UConn in a national semifinal game.

Alabama returns star point guard Mark Sears and has plenty of talent around him. It wouldn’t be a surprise at all to see the Crimson Tide back in the Final Four in 2025.

As for Memphis, the Tigers are coming off of a 22-10 season under Penny Hardaway. Memphis missed out on last year’s NCAA Tournament after earning a No. 8 seed in the 2023 NCAA Tournament.

Hardaway has a talented team back for the 2024-25 season that could be ready to make some noise.

Both programs should have an idea of how good they will be this upcoming season after the exhibition game in October.

Nate Oats admits he considered Kentucky job, explains why he remained at Alabama

Alabama coach Nate Oats pulled his name out of consideration for the Kentucky job early on during the search to replace John Calipari. However, that doesn’t mean that Oats didn’t consider going after the position.

He recently spoke with Seth Davis about the Kentucky job and how much he considered it. Oats was being discussed as a potential candidate for the position before announcing in a statement that he would be staying in Tuscaloosa.

“That’s a good question, because for a guy like me that’s fortunate to be where I’m at — and I’ve caught a lot of breaks in life, to be even in the conversation – I mean the job was never offered to me. It didn’t get to that point at all,” Nate Oats said. “But there was a lot of speculation circulating around the country for part of a day there that maybe I’d be in the mix. I actually thought about it.”

Ultimately, Oats decided that he and his family would be happier staying at Alabama than leaving for Kentucky.

“I’ve got three daughters. They all like it here in Tuscaloosa. My oldest Lexie is going into her junior year here. I haven’t had to move a ton in my profession. A lot of these guys are moving every couple of years. I’m fortunate, I didn’t have to do that,” Oats said. “I didn’t really want to move my family.”