Nate Oats admits he deletes social media ahead of season

While everything that’s happened since Jan. 15 likely gave Alabama men’s basketball head coach Nate Oats an extra reason to stay off social media, it seems like the Crimson Tide’s head man does so anyways during the season, anyways. He said as much ahead a Sweet Sixteen showdown between Alabama and San Diego State.

As such, Oats has been generally shutoff from the rising tide of online criticism amid the ongoing revelations about the Jan. 15 shooting that resulted in one former player, Darius Miles, facing capital murder charges. Two other players confirmed to be at the scene, Brandon Miller and Jaden Bradley, have continued to play for Alabama. That has been the source of the most withering criticism.

A reporter asked Oats if he and his team managed to enjoy their tournament run amid the backlash, citing a John Calipari line about not letting others “steal my joy.”

“Yeah, we’re having a blast. We’re winning games. We know who we are. We’ve got a great group of guys that lean on each other, that have come close,” Oats said.

He continued and said he and his team haven’t forgotten or are overlooking the tragedy that occurred.

“We’ve never lost sight of the fact that we have a heartbreaking situation surrounding the program. The fact that we have such a good group of guys enables them to keep that, as they should, be a serious matter, and it has been. But, you know, you play basketball from the time you were young to get to these moments, and we’re going to enjoy these moments,” Oats said. “They’ve earned the right to enjoy the moment they’re in, and I think our guys are having a lot of fun.”

It was at this point that Oats mentioned his social media hiatus that he takes in-season. He encouraged others, namely his player, to do the same.

And he again applauded his team for their work to stay present and focused on winning basketball games with the stakes getting ever higher.

“You know what, I delete all social media apps off my phone before the season. I encourage our guys to spend more time watching film and everything,” Oats said. “We just — we’re going to control the stuff we can control, and our guys have done a great job being cognizant and aware of the entire situation we have going on and the big-picture stuff, but they’ve done a great job of being where their feet are at and focusing on the details at hand.”