Nate Oats brings Alabama softball coach Patrick Murphy in to speak

Coaches at Alabama love to bring in speakers for their teams, just look at Nick Saban. He has some of the biggest stars in the world come to Tuscaloosa and it occurs every offseason. Whether Saban is looking for motivation, a good message, or something to bring up spirits, he is hoping the speaker gets through to his players.

Nate Oats wanted something similar heading into Alabama’s second SEC game of the season against South Carolina. However, he did not look too far for the speaker. Oats brought in Alabama softball head coach Patrick Murphy, giving a speech on having “vicarious joy through your teammates’ success”

It’s something he preaches with the softball team, one of the best teams Alabama has on campus. The message was having joy when your teammates have success on the court. Well, the message was received, as Oats said he felt like his team showed it on Tuesday night.

Had special guest @UACoachMurphy in the house yesterday.

BIG TIME 💎’s

He shared the word MUDITA which is the concept of UNSELFISH JOY

VICARIOUS JOY – the pleasure that comes from delighting in other people’s well-being. 😮‍💨😮‍💨😮‍💨

Loved it! pic.twitter.com/zxjjDk9eBq

— Henry Barrera, CSCS (@hoopdiaries) January 9, 2024

If there is a teammate Alabama should be happy for against South Carolina, it’s Mark Sears. He finished the night with 31 points and continued his run as the top scorer in the SEC. On 13 shot attempts, Sears made 10 of them while shooting six out of eight from behind the three-point line.

Add in six rebounds, three assists, plus three steals and Sears had himself a night in front of the Coleman Coliseum faithful.

Alabama basketball, softball share recent success

The Alabama men’s basketball and softball teams have had a ton of recent success, reaching the highest level of their respective sports.

Oats guided his team to an SEC regular season and tournament championship last season while being the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament. While the Sweet Sixteen exit was a bit disappointing, it’s a year like the program has never seen in Tuscaloosa.

Moving over to the softball side, Murphy took his team to Oklahoma City for the Women’s College World Series. Making Super Regionals has become the regular for his team and competing for national championships is almost expected.

With all of the success, may as well attempt to share it with each other. Murphy has been in town a bit longer than Oats, taking over back in 1999. Sustained success has been a theme and Oats is hoping men’s basketball can have the same over the years.

Taking a lesson from Murphy can help in the short and long term.