Paul Finebaum praises Nate Oats for leading Alabama to Final Four

Nate Oats earned his top coaching achievement to date in leading Alabama to the Final Four over the weekend. It’s a moment that has been building over his five-year tenure in Tuscaloosa and is now an incredible accomplishment that Paul Finebaum still can’t quite get his head around.

Finebaum applauded Oats and the Tide for making it to Phoenix on ‘McElroy and Cubelic In The Morning’ on Monday. He said that them getting that far in the tournament still feels more like a prank than the truth. Still, with what Oats has done, he has made the unlikely into a reality for ‘Bama as they head into their first-ever Final Four.

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“At first, I thought it might be an April Fool’s joke. But I watched the game so I knew better,” Finebaum joked. “It’s that hard to wrap your arms around, especially for some people like me and others who have been watching Alabama Basketball for, really, since the beginning of time. There’ve been so many close calls and so many really better teams. But, under Nats Oats, instead of seeming or feeling like a joke? It feels like the real deal because it is.”

“Since the day he was hired five years ago, he has been leading this program to new heights and to a place where it doesn’t feel like an outlier,” said Finebaum.

Oats is now 117-53 since he began at Alabama in 2019. That has led to four conference titles, four consecutive selections in the NCAA Tournament. Those bracket berths have included a No. 1 overall seed in 2023 and the team’s first Final Four in 2024.

Some saw last season’s loss in the Sweet 16 to San Diego State as a major missed opportunity for Alabama. However, Oats molded what remained of that roster with what he was bringing in for this season. That made a new team that will now post the school’s best-ever tournament finish.

“Last year, it felt like it was on track. Then I think controversy and everything that went with the Brandon Miller case got in the way. This year? It didn’t seem likely because the team just was such a redo from last year. But that’s where coaching comes in,” Finebaum said. “You see it all the time in March and now April where, simply, a great coach can mold the team in spite of what happened in Lexington six or seven weeks ago or anywhere else.”

Alabama might not end up being the team that wins it all in Glendale this weekend. They very well could but that’s still to be determined between them, UConn, Purdue, and NC State.

For now, though, Finebaum wants to focus on this peak alone. It’s somewhere that Alabama has never been before and, as such, is something their supporters should thank those responsible for.

“I think it’s a remarkable tribute to a number of people but, namely, Greg Byrne for having the foresight to go out and take a shot at someone he knew was a good coach but most of us had never heard of. And, obviously, just the support that Nate Oats has received,” said Finebaum.