Nate Oats on Mark Sears: 'Nobody told me he would be this good'

Not many had Alabama advancing to the Final Four of this year’s NCAA Tournament when they filled out their brackets, but the Crimson Tide have done just that. With point guard Mark Sears playing a major significant role in Alabama’s historic March Madness run.

Sears is having the epitome of a breakout season for the Crimson Tide, taking home First-Team All-SEC honors and being named Most Outstanding Player of the West Regional after averaging 24.3 points per game on 50.8% shooting so far during the NCAA Tournament. But his journey to stardom starts much earlier, as an underrated prospect who chose mid-major Ohio as his school of choice out of high school.

“He didn’t have any high-major scholarships coming out of high school,” Alabama head coach Nate Oats said. “We probably screwed up and didn’t offer him out of high school, probably not a probably, we did screw up. He goes to Ohio, he’s pretty good, I was in the league. I called a lot of coaches in that league, they said yeah he’s good enough for you. Nobody told me he’s gonna be this good, I didn’t think he was gonna be this good when we got him.”

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Oats spent the first four seasons of his college head coaching career at Buffalo, while Sears spent the first two of his college playing career at Ohio. And after averaging 19.6 points per game in his sophomore season with the Bobcats, Sears would transfer to Alabama where he turned some heads yet again. Averaging 12.5 points per game as the Crimson Tide’s starting point guard.

“Even last year I think he surprised a lot of people being the second leading scorer on the number one team in the country. But he’s literally improved every single summer from high school, to prep school, freshman year … He keeps improving, but that’s because he works,” Oats said. “I mean he gets in the gym and really works. We’re at the last week of the season, we practiced yesterday morning, he’s back in here in the afternoon, I wouldn’t doubt if he’s in at night. He comes in and works.”

Oats made it clear that Sears’ hard work is what got him to this point, averaging 21.5 points per game this season along with impressive 50.4% shooting from the field and 43.4% from three-point range. All career-high numbers in a season that very few saw coming.

“So did I think he was gonna be this good? Nobody did, maybe his mom did, his dad’s pretty confident too. He’s got a great family. I don’t think anybody thought Most Outstanding Player in the Regionals to send us to the Final Four,” Oats said.

Sears’ steady improvement over time surely got him to the point he’s at today. But Oats also revealed that his recent growth in specific, pivotal areas has directly placed Alabama in the position they’re at right now facing top-seeded UConn this Sunday for a chance to make the program’s first national championship appearance.

“He’s just continued to improve in all aspects and I really think his leadership and his defense have significantly improved here over the last month which has enabled us to get where we’re getting,” Oats said. “If his leadership and defense don’t improve like it has we’re not playing right now. Our season’s over. Because of that we’re still playing and he’s as good of an all-around guard as there is in the country over the last month or so.”