Nate Oats apologizes to Dennis Gates after pushing Missouri player

A heated exchange occurred during Tuesday’s contest between Alabama and Missouri, taking place right near the Crimson Tide bench. Players from both teams gathered and at one point Nate Oats got involved. He pushed Aidan Shaw away from his team and told him to go back to the Mizzou bench.

The officials reviewed the matter and nothing came of it. However, Dennis Gates revealed Oats apologized to him for the moment while going through the postgame handshake line. Emotions were running high but Oats felt the need to say something to Gates before walking off the court.

“Nate apologized,” Gates said. “I’ve known Nate since he was a high school coach in Detroit.”

Gates did wonder what would have happened if a player was the one to extend a push. Would the officials have called a technical? Potentially and Gates wishes they did the same for Oats.

“I just pose the question — if that was players in the huddle, put a hand on an opponent, what would take place? It would be an automatic technical foul, right? I thought I saw two referees in the huddle,” Gates said. “It wasn’t a technical foul? But that’s the question I would pose. If it was players, making hand contact, what would take place?”

Shortly after Gates spoke to the media, Oats had the opportunity to address what he called a “scuffle.” He also talked about his relationship with Gates, admitting they go back a few years. Oats added he apologized to Shaw for the incident as well, not just Gates.

“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.”

There was no comment from Shaw on the situation, not speaking to the media following the game.

If Alabama and Missouri are going to face off again this season, it will not come during the regular season. Tuesday’s game was a little chippy throughout, with both teams showing emotion. Unless there is a matchup in the SEC Tournament and somehow the NCAA Tournament, we will not see them share the court again.