Meet the New Guys: Nate Oats completes his 2023-24 coaching staff

Alabama head basketball coach Nate Oats has completed his coaching staff for the upcoming 2023-24 season, he said Monday. Oats, now in his fifth year of leading the Crimson Tide, was tasked with replacing all three assistants this offseason after they each landed a head coaching position elsewhere. Alabama hired Austin Claunch, Ryan Pannone and most recently Preston Murphy to fill out the Tide bench, and below is a look at the new-look coaching staff.

Austin Claunch

Assistant coach

Claunch, 33, was the youngest head coach in Division I men’s basketball for three seasons from 2018-21. He led the Colonels to back-to-back regular-season championships from 2020-22 and was named the Southland Conference Coach of the Year in 2020-21. Claunch led Nicholls to a 21-win season the prior year after being voted to finish 11th in preseason polls.

He took over as head coach of the Colonels in 2018 after serving as an assistant from 2016-18 and guided the program to 90 wins, compared to 61 losses, during that span. Nicholls State has posted a 58-28 record in Southland Conference play and won at least 11 league games each of the last four years. Claunch was named to ESPN’s annual 40 Under 40 list in 2020.

As an assistant, Claunch was primarily responsible for guard development, specifically point guards, working daily with seniors Roddy Peters (SLC Newcomer of the Year, First Team), Jahvaughn Powell (All-SLC Defensive Team), Lafayette Rutledge (Single-season 3-point record holder) and Tevon Saddler (All-SLC Second Team). He was also the key recruiter for Kevin Johnson and Ryghe Lyons, who both started over 15 games for NSU as true freshmen.

Oats: “Austin is one of the hardest-working guys in the business. His work as a head coach at Nicholls was unbelievable with one of the lowest budgets in the country. He has won two out of the last three regular season championships in the Southland Conference and that is a credit to his hard work and his energy.

“Austin has a bright young mind and will help out our program in many ways. Not only is he a tireless recruiter and will help us with game planning but he is also a great person who will develop great relationships with our players and have a positive impact in our community.”

Ryan Pannone

Assistant coach

Pannone was promoted to the Pelicans coaching staff for the 2022-23 season after leading the franchise’s G League team – first named the Erie BayHawks before becoming the Birmingham Squadron – as its head coach from 2019-22. In his time with the New Orleans-based franchise, Pannone worked with several former Alabama players, including Herb Jones, Kira Lewis and John Petty. Oats and Alabama AD Greg Byrne were in New Orleans for the Pelicans’ play-in game against the Oklahoma City Thunder, a trip that proved to have multiple purposes.

Pannone spent a large chunk of his coaching career in international leagues, where he spent time in China, Germany, Israel and Slovakia. He was an assistant coach for Hapoel Jerusalem from 2016-17 and 2018-19, winning the Israeli League championship in 2017 and Israeli State Cup in 2019, both as an assistant. A native of Clearwater, Fla., Pannone graduated from South Florida and began his career as an assistant coach at Wallace State (Ala.) Community College in 2011 before moving on to be an assistant for the Foshan Long Lions located in China. 

Oats: “Over my last four years at Alabama, I have gotten to know Ryan through his work with the Pelicans organization. He is one of the brightest minds in the game of basketball and a relentless worker. Ryan brings a wealth of Xs and Os experience to Tuscaloosa from his time coaching in the NBA, G League, and overseas. He is recognized as a top recruiter and a leader in player development, both crucial to the long and short-term success of our program.

“We are excited Ryan is on board working with our student-athletes. Not only is he a fantastic coach, but he is an even better person and a proven mentor of young men. I am sure Ryan and his family will become a valued part of the Tuscaloosa community.”

Preston Murphy

Special assistant to the head coach

Murphy coached with the Bluejays from 2015-2019, where he resigned in November of 2019 due to an FBI investigation. In 2021, Murphy was hit with a two-year, show-cause penalty, which ended last month, for accepting improper payments. According to ESPN, “a federal indictment in March 2019 accused Murphy of accepting a $6,000 payment from an undercover FBI agent in a meeting with Christian Dawkins,” one of the people at the center of the FBI’s probe.

Prior to Creighton, Murphy served one year as an assistant coach at Boston College in 2014-15 – the same school where he started his college coaching as a director of operations (2006-10). Murphy was a guard at Rhode Island from 1995-99 and landed his first assistant coaching job at his alma mater in 2010. He worked there for five years, earning a promotion to associate head coach in 2014, before moving on to Boston College and a chance to work in the ACC.

Oats: “I’m pleased to be completing our basketball staff with the addition of Coach Murphy. He was a highly sought-after candidate, and we were fortunate he was most interested in joining our program. I have known Preston for a long time, and I am excited about the many ways he can add tremendous value to what we do. I am always impressed with his energy, his humility, and his basketball acumen. His insight, experience and ability to connect with student-athletes will be a significant advantage for us.

“Additionally, Preston is a great person who is highly-regarded throughout the college basketball community. We have every expectation his hire will contribute to the continued success and high benchmarks of Alabama basketball.”

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