Nate Oats' message after Alabama's Final Four loss: 'We're not finished'
GLENDALE, Ariz. – After Alabama lost to UConn, 86-72, in the Final Four on Saturday night and he spoke to his team in the locker room at State Farm Stadium, Nate Oats had a message for Crimson Tide basketball fans, who supported the team during its historic postseason run.
“I want to thank them,” Oats said. “They’ve really supported us since we’ve gotten here. They’ve gotten behind this when I took the job. A lot of people said it was a football school. There’s a large contingent of basketball fans. No reason you can’t be both.
“We’ll see if UConn wins it on Monday, if they go ahead and win it on Monday, first team since Florida to win it back-to-backs. Florida is a pretty good football school. They became a pretty good basketball school. I think we proved you can be good at both.
“They’re good at a lot of sports at Alabama. I mean, they’ve been great to us since we’ve been here. I’m glad that I was a small part of bringing the Alabama fan base some joy through the basketball team and making the Final Four.”
Saturday’s contest against the Huskies was the Tide’s first-ever Final Four appearance in the program’s more than 100 years of existence. While Alabama came up short, due in large part to a 5:08 stretch with no field goals in the second half, it was the biggest basketball game UA has ever played in and the 11th NCAA Tournament game for the Tide under Oats.
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Prior to Oats’ arrival, Alabama won seven games in March Madness over the previous 26 years (1995-2019). The fifth-year head coach has accumulated two SEC Tournament championships, two SEC regular-season titles, a trio of Sweet 16 appearances and a West Region title. But even though the 2023-24 tournament run was historic, Oats isn’t satisfied.
“While it was great and I want to thank them and thank our players for getting us here, we’re not finished,” Oats continued. “We’d like to get back here and win this whole thing. I think that’s what our goal’s going to be. We’re going to aim to get back here, aim to get back here and win the final game.
“We just got to keep knocking at the door, ask for them to continue to support us like the way they’ve been and we’ll continue to put a winning product on the floor for them.”
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