Nate Oats, Greg Byrne in attendance for Pelicans vs. Thunder to support Alabama alum

Alabama‘s basketball season might have ended prematurely, but a couple of Nate Oats’ former players have the opportunity to extend theirs in the NBA play-in tournament Wednesday night.

Herbert Jones and Kira Lewis Jr., both members of the New Orleans Pelicans, will look to help their team avoid elimination from the postseason after just one game. Jones received the starting nod Wednesday night, while Lewis was the third player off the bench for the Pelicans.

Oats, alongside Alabama athletics director Greg Byrne, let their support for their alumni be know after posting a photo to social media wearing the Pelicans’ “One NOLA” playoff t-shirt.

Made the trip to the @PelicansNBA play-in game with @nate_oats to support @_hoopinglife and Kira. #RollTide 🏀 pic.twitter.com/gJaccI1CQD

— Greg Byrne (@Greg_Byrne) April 13, 2023

Jones finished his second regular season in the NBA averaging 9.8 points, 4.1 rebounds and 2.5 assists. He started in all 66 games he appeared in and has been a regular staple in the starting lineup since he was drafted in the second round of the 2021 NBA Draft. Even though he fell in the draft, he still finished the 2021-22 season with All-NBA rookie honors.

Lewis hasn’t caught on as fast, though. Despite being taken in the lottery during the 2020 NBA Draft, Lewis has never started a game for the Pelicans despite appearing in 103 games over three seasons in the league.

He averaged 4.6 points and 1.3 rebounds this season, both statistics down from last season after returning from a torn ACL. Wednesday’s play-in will be just the 26th game Lewis has appeared in the year for New Orleans. On top of that, he’s only played in 52 games over the past two seasons thanks to various ailments. At Alabama, he played (and started in) all 65 games the Tide played over that span.

Jones and Lewis were around in Tuscaloosa to watch Nate Oats build the ground floor at Alabama. That project, which the duo shined in, now sees the Crimson Tide labeled as one of the most dominant programs over the last few seasons.

Lewis spent two seasons under Nate Oats at Alabama. He averaged 18.5 points, 4.8 rebounds and 5.2 assists for the Crimson Tide during the 2019-20 season before heading pro. Jones, however, was a four-year collegiate vet and became a staple of the lineup during the program’s transformative years as a full-time starter from 2018 until he left school in 2021.

Catch Jones and Lewis live on ESPN as the Pelicans look to take down the Oklahoma City Thunder and advance to Friday’s eight-seed play-in game against the Minnesota Timberwolves.