Nate Oats admits Noah Clowney's play has been surprising

Four-star Alabama freshman forward Noah Clowney‘s play has been turning heads lately, including that of his head coach, Nate Oats.

Clowney has started all nine of Alabama’s games so far this season, averaging 9.4 points, 8.3 rebounds, 1.3 blocks, 1.1 assists and 0.8 steals per game. He’s stuffing the stat sheet.

“I think he’s surprised everybody outside the program a lot more than he surprised us, but I’d be lying if I didn’t say he maybe surprised us a little,” Oats said Monday. “We knew he was going to be good. We knew he was athletic. We knew he worked hard, because he’s in the gym all the time.”

What wasn’t as clear was how all the intangibles would develop.

And on that front, the Crimson Tide have been extremely fortunate. Everything they heard in the recruiting process about Clowney has been accurate.

“It’s really hard to tell how; we knew he was intellectual on the phone, sometimes that doesn’t translate to the court,” Oats said. “He’s really smart on the court, like really smart. So sometimes that’s hard to predict.

“Then just how tough is a kid? The high school coach will tell you. And he played for a really good high school coach, so he came in well-coached, ready to play. But, again, I was a high school coach. You never want to say anything bad about your kid, so you’re going to kind of get what most coaches want (for) their kid. So sometimes that stuff’s hard to predict.”

Noah Clowney’s play earning him praise

Oats kept it pretty straightforward on the play of Noah Clowney, focusing on the development he’s already seen from the freshman star.

He was rated as the No. 76 overall player in the 2022 recruiting class, so it’s not altogether surprising he’s had an impact. The depth of that impact, though, has been significant.

“His toughness and his IQ, to be honest with you, how well he comes into big games… you look at the Carolina game, how he started it,” Oats said. “Even though he only played three minutes, he was good in those three minutes. The start of the Houston game. He’s ready to play in every game. So that stuff’s hard to know when they come in.

“Probably a little surprised, but I don’t even know, I don’t follow the rankings all that much. You’ve got to be ranked high to be a McDonald’s All-American.”

Clowney and the Crimson Tide will be back in action on Tuesday night with a 9 p.m. ET tip against Memphis, with a national broadcast slated for ESPN2.