Nate Oats explains how Alabama basketball is impacted by competing at a football school

Unfortunately, no matter how well Nate Oats does with the Alabama basketball program, football will be the school’s No. 1 sport. Even as Nick Saban moves into retirement and Kalen DeBoer takes over the program, Alabama is a football school through and through. And while some coaches may not like that, Oats actually sees it as a positive.

“If you understand how college athletics work… The biggest money maker in college athletics right now is football,” Oats said. “It’s not even close. In my opinion, we’ve got the best football program over the history of college football in the country. It brings in a lot of money. The money is used in the entire athletic department, including men’s basketball.

“So, I’ve sold to these guys ‘We’ve got the resources here to win at the highest level.’ If you understand college athletics, it’s actually a positive to be at a football school. Because some of these schools that are not football schools are going to struggle financially moving forward.”

Per the USA TODAY, Alabama brought in over $214 million during 2023, the third most of any athletic department in the country. Only Ohio State and Texas were ahead of the Crimson Tide — two other football schools. Georgia was the only other SEC school to cross the $200 million mark.

Oats understands football is the driving force behind the revenue. Calling Alabama anything other than a football school is “absurd” to the basketball head coach. He understands what the fans love and what brings in the most cash.

So instead of using it as a negative, Oats finds a way to use being a football school as a recruiting tool. He pitches recruits on having some of the best accommodations in college basketball due to the money Alabama brings in on an annual basis.

“You’re going to have better facilities, we’re going to travel better, nutrition is better,” Oats said. “Just go down the list of everything that’s going to be better because we’ve got better resources here.”

Now, on gameday, Oats understand Alabama may not have a better atmosphere out there. Certainly when he took over ahead of the 2019-2020 season. Getting folks to Coleman Coliseum was part of his job back then but once the winning began, the fan buy-in followed.

“Maybe our gym’s not packed every days like it is at some of these blue bloods,” Oats said. “It is now that we’re winning. You had to sell a vision back then but now, you see it. We’re better off being at Alabama than some traditional basketball powerhouse that doesn’t necessarily have the financial backing we have at Alabama just because football is such a big deal.”

Oats will certainly have packed gyms this upcoming season. Alabama currently projects to be one of the best teams in the country, currently sitting at No. 1 in On3’s way-too-early top 25 rankings via James Fletcher.

And just like the rest of us, Oats will enjoy football season before basketball gets underway in early November.