Alabama basketball faces familiar foe in Arkansas State's Bryan Hodgson

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The Alabama men’s basketball team will welcome a familiar face back to Coleman Coliseum tonight when the Crimson Tide (5-2) hosts Arkansas State (2-6).

Former Alabama assistant Bryan Hodgson is now the head coach of the Red Wolves after four years with the Tide and made sure to get his former boss on the schedule in his first year.

“We’re looking forward to welcoming Coach Hodgson and Arkansas State in here,” Nate Oats said. “I spent eight years with Bryan. It was a really good eight years. He was instrumental in us being successful at Buffalo and then us being ultra-successful here. I’m happy to welcome him back. 

“Of the three assistants, he’s the only one that ended up working out that we could play here, but I’m happy he’s coming. They look a lot like us. They try to do things like we do.”

Oats and Hodgson spent the previous eight seasons together where the latter was an assistant under Oats at both Buffalo and Alabama. After helping guide the Crimson Tide to two SEC titles and the Sweet 16 in the NCAA Tournament, Hodgson was hired as the 17th head all-time coach at Arkansas State, becoming the second of three UA assistants to land promotions.

Since taking over in Jonesboro, Ark., Hodgson has adopted the difficult scheduling philosophy that Oats has at Alabama. The Red Wolves will be on the road for nine of its 13 non-conference games and are one of just two Sun Belt teams that are not playing a non-Division I opponent this season. Former UA assistant Charlie Henry at Georgia Southern is the other.

This marks the first time since 1999-2000 that A-State isn’t playing a non-Division I foe.

“They’re following our scheduling model and playing tough teams,” Oats said. “Bryan’s gone on the road, got bought. Charlie, the same thing. They’re obviously going to get some wins and get their teams going, but at that level, really, your non-conference is just preparing you to get ready for the conference. I did it for four years at Buffalo. 

“It really doesn’t matter what happens in your non-conference schedule. You’ve got to win the conference tournament or you’re not going to the NCAA Tournament. I took the same scheduling approach – just schedule tough teams, figure out how good you are, where you need work at, getting better at it, get ready to go in conference play – and we won three out of four conference tournaments when I was at Buffalo and was fortunate to make the tournament three times. I think that’s what those guys are doing on their own.”

RELATED: Nick Pringle suspended for conduct detrimental to team

Oats said the scout on the Red Wolves, on one hand, is not that difficult because they play a similar style to Alabama. But at the same time, the Tide’s tempo is not easy to defend. Alabama enters its eighth game of the season ranked No. 2 in the nation in adjusted offensive efficiency, per KenPom, and is averaging 94.8 points per game, which is also second nationally.

“I’ve talked to Bryan going into this. He said, ‘The good thing for you guys is you have us coming to town,’ and I said, ‘The first team to 100 wins, it looks like,’” Oats said. “They’ve had some offensive output games. They’ve scored over 100 a couple times, if you look at their exhibitions, too. 

“They’re playing fast, playing open, their offense has been flowing, so we’ll see how it goes. We should have better talent being at Alabama versus Arkansas State, but it will be similar styles of play when they come in here.”

The Alabama-Arkansas State game will tip off at 7 p.m. CT and air live on SEC Network.

Not a member, Alabama fans? Join BOL today!

Have you subscribed to BamaOnLine.com yet? You can sign up for ONE MONTH of premium access to our Alabama coverage for just $1! Be able to read all of BOL’s premium articles and nuggets covering Alabama sports and recruiting and also join thousands of other Crimson Tide fans around the globe on the BOL Round Table message board! CLICK HERE!