Nate Oats explains decision to turn to walk-on to spark Alabama comeback win over Missouri

Britton Johnson, aka BJ, played three of the most important minutes in his collegiate career during Saturday’s 86-76 win over Missouri. He’s only logged 34 minutes in his entire career.

Alabama head coach Nate Oats said last week that if his star players don’t perform up to his expectations, there’s a nice, warm seat on the bench with their name on it. He proved Saturday that he wasn’t bluffing.

That’s why, with 16:30 left in the first half, Oats subbed in Johnson down 14-3 and, let’s just say he made the most of his time on the court.

He ended up grabbing three offensive rebounds, made a layup and took two 3-pointers. While he missed the treys, Johnson took the shots without hesitation and helped ignite a fire under his team for the 180 seconds he was on the court.

On the first play he was in, he gobbled up the first of his three boards, went up for the layup, made the bucket and drew the foul. He missed the free throw, but it was exactly what Alabama needed at the time.

“He missed the free throw,” Oats said. “Obviously, I think there are some nerves involved with him coming into the game for the first time. I don’t know if he was surprised or not but we had an effort issue and I know he’s going to give us some effort and I had no problem putting him in.”

He also came up with the hustle plays that won’t show up on the stat sheet. He dove for loose balls, including one that sent him flying out of bounds and into the Crimson Tide crowd.

“Coach went with who he thought was ready to go out there and do that, Jaden Shackelford, who scored 21 points on Saturday, said. “And BJ is always ready when his number is called. He’s the most blue-collar guy we have, especially in practice.”

The senior walk-on received a standing ovation when he checked out of the game. The Tide trailed 17-7 when he went to the bench, but Alabama went into the locker room leading 40-36 at the break. If BJ can make the most in a limited capacity, Alabama’s stars can do it in their extended roles.

“Well we put BJ in to show everybody there’s another level to how hard we have to play and I think BJ showed them,” Oats said. “And I’m happy that BJ can do it and you have to trust he can do it too. Might have to continue to do it. I hope we don’t.

For his sake, it’s nice he can get in and do that but it’s disappointing you have to show some other guys who are in the rotation who maybe have some more God-given ability and athletic ability who aren’t playing as hard as BJ plays when he gets in.”

This serves as a lesson to all players on Alabama’s roster: Be ready when your number is called.