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Steven Pearl claims Alabama hired Nate Oats due to Bruce Pearl being at Auburn

by:Alex Byington•02/13/25•

_AlexByington

Syndication: The Montgomery Advertiser
Auburn Tigers head coach Bruce Pearl and Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Nate Oats talk before the game at Auburn Arena in Auburn, Ala., on Tuesday, Feb. 1, 2022. Auburn Tigers lead Alabama Crimson Tide at halftime 51-37.

It’s difficult to quantify the true impact Bruce Pearl has had on Auburn basketball, and SEC basketball at large, over his 11 seasons on The Plains.

Now, as Pearl’s No. 1-ranked Tigers prepare to travel to Tuscaloosa for Saturday’s highly-anticipated 1 vs. 2 matchup at No. 2 Alabama (4 pm ET, ESPN), at least one member of Auburn’s staff is crediting Pearl for elevating the longstanding Iron Bowl rivalry to another level, especially in the hardcourt.

Steven Pearl, the Tigers’ associate head coach and Pearl’s eldest son, unleashed a strong — but not entirely out-of-bounds — take when he suggested the second-ranked Crimson Tide (21-3, 10-1 SEC) might not have hired sixth-year head coach Nate Oats if not for what Pearl had already accomplished at Auburn (22-2, 10-1) in the five years between their two respective hires.

“I don’t think Alabama goes and hires Nate Oats if Bruce Pearl isn’t at Auburn,” Steven Pearl said Wednesday on The Stingray Show on Tide 100.9. “That’s not throwing shade on anyone. I just think that what Coach (Pearl) has been able to do at Auburn has raised the level of expectations at other schools in this league. And they said, ‘Listen, if Auburn can do it, we can do it at a high level too if we get the right person like Auburn did.’

“Well, Alabama got the right person. Nate Oats is one of the best coaches in the game right now. And his stats and accolades back that up. He’s done an unbelievable job, and the rivalry has only gotten more intense, it’s only gotten better.”

Despite a difficult start to his time on the Plains, Pearl certainly elevated Auburn men’s basketball to previously unseen heights, including achieving the program’s lone Final Four appearance in 2019 and two SEC Tournament championships (2019 and 2024).

In fact, it was during the Tigers’ 2019 NCAA Tournament run to the Final Four that Alabama athletic director Greg Byrne opted to part ways with Avery Johnson after four seasons before hiring Oats away from Buffalo on March 27, 2019. In the days immediately following Oats arrival in Tuscaloosa, Pearl guided Auburn to a Sweet Sixteen win over North Carolina and an Elite Eight win over Kentucky.

Much like Pearl before him, Oats revolutionized the Alabama men’s basketball program during his six seasons in Tuscaloosa. That includes guiding the Crimson Tide to the program’s first-ever Final Four appearance last season, three Sweet Sixteen appearances in the last four seasons and eclipsing the 20-win plateau four times, including this season.

All that has set the stage for Saturday’s epic No. 1 vs. No. 2 showdown in Coleman Coliseum between the bitter cross-state rivals. Saturday will mark the 11th meeting between Oats and Pearl, with the Alabama coach holding a slight 6-5 advantage over his Auburn counterpart over the past five seasons of the Iron Bowl of basketball series, including winning three of the last four.

“For the first time since we were at Tennessee, College GameDay has a 1 vs. 2 matchup,” Steven Pearl continued. “It’s the first time, I think in SEC basketball history, that there’s been a 1 vs. 2 game. … And it’s two teams in the state of Alabama, historically football schools. It’s the first Iron Bowl of any sport where there’s a 1 vs. 2 matchup.

“The rivalry, obviously, is well and alive, and while both fan bases are going to want to tear each other apart, I think you’ve got to appreciate how far both programs have come and where it’s at right now.”