How Nate Oats channeled Wimp Sanderson, Nick Saban to make Alabama a basketball school
Nate Oats is steadily working his way up Alabama’s vast coaching pantheon, especially after securing the Crimson Tide’s second-ever berth into the Elite Eight with Thursday night’s upset of top-seeded North Carolina in the 2024 NCAA Tournament.
On3’s Andy Staples and James Fletcher III spoke about Oats’ overall career with the Tide and recent work on Friday after the Tide won 89-87 over No. 1 North Carolina in Los Angeles. To Staples, he likened Oats to two other coaches for ‘Bama, one on the basketball court and one on the football field, based on their approaches and their spots on their respective all-time win lists.
“This is, I would argue, a better coaching job by Nate Oats this year than the previous couple. Think about this,” Staples said. “I mean what he has done at Alabama? Nobody has been able to do this. Like, Wimp Sanderson had good years but most people now don’t remember who Wimp Sanderson was. If you look at Nate Oats’ jackets, that’s the homage to Wimp Sanderson.
“There was a coach at Alabama who was really good at replacing assistants and continuing to go deep in the playoffs,” Staples added in reference to the recently retired Nick Saban. “It seems to be in the water in Tuscaloosa.”
Sanderson is the winningest coach on the court with Alabama with 267 wins and a career record at .692. That led to six conference titles, 10 appearances in the NCAA Tournament, and several appearances in the Sweet 16.
As for Nick Saban, he certainly needs no introduction in any conversation. 206 wins, a .877 winning percentage, nine SEC Championships, and six national titles just about says it all in regards to his greatness, specifically with the Crimson Tide.
Oats earning those kinds of comparisons should excite those in Tuscaloosa. That’s especially so because his new contract creates the potential for sustained success well into the foreseeable future.
“Alabama has never been this in basketball,” Staples said. “The fact that they locked down Nate Oats and they have that massive buyout. Which, by the way, I think Nate Oats was kind of down with. I think he’s good with where he is.
“If he were to leave Alabama, my guess would be it’s for the NBA, not for another college team. I feel like they’ve got him for quite some time. This could be the beginning of something pretty special there.”
Fletcher concurred, and believes this year could end up as that defining moment of what to anticipate from Crimson Tide hoops as long as Oats is at the helm.
“They have got all of the pieces to keep this going for a long time, like you said,” Fletcher said. “I think that this year was a key point in the Nate Oats tenure to show whether this was some long, sustainable thing over the course of whether it’s a decade, two decades, whatever it ends up being.”