Alabama's Nate Oats reprimanded by SEC for pushing Missouri player Aidan Shaw

Alabama head coach Nate Oats has been reprimanded by the SEC for pushing Missouri forward Aidan Shaw on Tuesday.

The moment occurred just before the under-8 media timeout in the first half when a group of players began to jaw back and forth in a huddle. Oats then shoved Shaw out of the way, telling him to go back to the Missouri bench.

“Nate Oats’ actions were unacceptable and violated the expectations for conduct and sportsmanship as established by the membership of the Southeastern Conference,” Commissioner Greg Sankey said in a statement. “Under no circumstances should a coach make intentional contact with a student-athlete on an opposing team.”

The SEC states that Oats was in violation of SEC Bylaw 10.5, which states “All institutional staff members and student-athletes of a member institution, shall conduct themselves with honesty and good sportsmanship. Their behavior shall at all times reflect the standards of honor and dignity that characterize participation in the collegiate setting. For intercollegiate athletics to promote the character development of participants, to enhance the integrity of higher education and to promote civility in society, coaches, student-athletes and all others associated with these athletics programs and events should adhere to such fundamental values as honor, respect, fairness, civility, honesty and responsibility. These values should be manifest not only in athletics participation but also in the broad spectrum of activities affecting the athletics program.”

Nate Oats apologizes to Dennis Gates, Aidan Shaw

Once the final buzzer sounded, Alabama and Missouri went through the handshake line as normal. Oats did pause for a few seconds to speak to Dennis Gates, though. It was later revealed by both head coaches that it was an apology.

Oats also said he apologized to Shaw for the moment.

“I’ve known Coach Gates for a long time,” Oats said. “I was a high school coach. He was one of the best recruiters in the country. I have all the respect in the world for the job he has done as an assistant and a head coach… No disrespect to their program. I apologized to both Coach Gates and Aidan Shaw. Aidan seems like a great kid. It’s an unfortunate situation but I apologized to both of them.”

Gates gave his opinion on the incident, wondering why a technical foul was not called on Oats. Had a player been the one to issue the shove, Gates believes the officials would have T’d them up.

Alabama wound up winning on Tuesday night, pulling away in the second half. Oats saw his team remain undefeated in SEC play, while Gates is still searching for a first conference win of the season.

Unless there is a matchup down the road in the postseason, we will not seen Alabama and Missouri play each other again this year.