Nate Oats 'super happy' with new-look coaching staff at Alabama

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Nate Oats likely felt like the Will Smith in an empty room meme for a little bit after last season ended. Not only did Alabama lose eight players from last year’s team, but it also saw unprecedented staff turnover with three assistants becoming head coaches.

Charlie Henry (Georgia Southern), Bryan Hodgson (Arkansas State) and longtime Crimson Tide assistant Antoine Pettway (Kennesaw State) all received promotions after Alabama’s successful 2022-23 campaign, leaving Oats with an empty cabinet. The fifth-year head coach had to work quickly to replenish both his roster and coaching staff throughout the offseason.

“I think the staff that we put together, while it may have taken some time, I think we got it right,” said Oats at Wednesday’s SEC Tipoff ‘24. “I’m super happy with the staff we got.”

Oats has since filled out his coaching staff for the 2023-24 season, hiring Austin Claunch, Ryan Pannone and Preston Murphy. Standing behind the lectern at Grand Bohemian Hotel Mountain Brook on Wednesday afternoon, Oats broke down the trio of new assistant coaches.

“Austin Claunch was the first one we hired,” Oats said. “Austin is from Texas. Coached in Louisiana. Nicholls won the Southland two of the last three years. If you understand that league, it’s not easy to do. Real low budget. He kind of did it with sheer willpower and outworked anybody. He’s got a ton of energy. We hit the portal. He was the one guy I hired that had been in college last year.

Oats continued with Pannone, who last served as an assistant with the New Orleans Pelicans, and his ties to the NBA helped Alabama land one of its top NCAA transfer portal targets. 

“I think everybody up here that’s in the basketball knows who he is,” Oats said. “He was head coach for the Pelicans G League team here in Birmingham, the Squadron. But he works really hard. We were able to get on some Zooms with some transfer guys. He was able to get in there with Grant Nelson particularly, one of his that he kind of targeted. Grant took a while. 

“Grant is trying to make it to the NBA. He was real close to staying in the draft this year. Having a guy that’s been in the NBA, that’s developed guys to play in the NBA, that’s Ryan’s background. Started in player development, and he’s great at it. That certainly helped.”

The last addition to Oats’ staff at Alabama was Preston Murphy, who was officially announced in early July. At the time of the hire, Oats praised Murphy as a recruiter, and that carried over.

“One of the best recruiters in college basketball really since I’ve been involved in Division I, all the way back to my days in Romulus,” Oats said. “Preston is from Saginaw, recruited my kids when I was at Romulus. I think he’s one of the best coaches, recruiters in the country.”

This offseason marked the first time in Oats’ tenure as the Crimson Tide’s coach that any of his primary assistants had left, ending a streak of four consecutive years of continuity. With so many new faces, both as coaches and players, Oats has spent some extra time with his staff.

“You got to get everybody on the same page,” Oats said. “When you spend so much of your time recruiting, both the transfers, the current team, then trying to get in on the class of ’24, you don’t have as much time as you’d like to sit down and talk your basketball.

“Got three guys that are really sharp with basketball. We sit down and meet, kind of answer a bunch of questions. They’ve got a lot of questions. How do we do it here? Kind of tell them how we did it here, but I’m open for discussion based on our current roster as to what is there a better way to do it with our current roster. The way we’ve done it here has changed from year to year, too.”

Oats continued, “I don’t necessarily know that I’ve educated them on everything, but we’ve definitely talked about how we’ve done it, and how they’ve done it places they’ve been. With our current roster, what does it look like, what would be the best way to do it. There’s been plenty of discussion. There’s more discussion every day. 

“Yeah, the staff meetings definitely take longer with the new staff because the previous staff, pretty used to each other, can get through them quick. I think the longer staff meetings with more questions and answers makes you think about more things, which in turn I think can make you better.”

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