Oats praises Derrion Reid after hard coaching moment at South Carolina

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Nate Oats benched all five starters after a shaky start to the second half at South Carolina earlier this week. After the full line change and a bucket from Aden Holloway, Alabama gave up a quick transition dunk to the Gamecocks, which cut the Crimson Tide lead to 14 and led to Oats calling a timeout to voice his frustration to the team.

“That had definitely been building,” Oats said after the game. “We’ve had awful starts to the second half, particularly when we’ve had a lead. It’s like they get comfortable or just kind of play around with it. That’s not how we do things around here.”

Immediately after calling the timeout, Oats marched to midcourt and started shouting at true freshman Derrion Reid, who had subbed in for starter Jarin Stevenson. But Reid nodded, patted Oats on the back and remained in the game after the early second-half timeout.

Nate Oats is…unhappy pic.twitter.com/34ghhNCed8

— Taylor Korn (@TaylorKornTNR) January 9, 2025

Reid went on to score all nine of his points in the second half in Alabama’s 88-68 win over the Gamecocks, and on Friday, Oats expounded on the hard coaching moment in Columbia.

“I’d rather get on a guy and raise his level than have – some guys don’t really respond to that,” Oats said. “So the only other option is just sit them. Derrion doesn’t want to sit. He wants to compete. He wants to play. I’d rather get on him and keep him in the game. So maybe it was too much. 

“It was a combination of the fact that we’ve been on these guys about our starts to the second half. The entire starters came out. My point to the second unit is, ‘Why do you think all five you went in before you usually get in? It’s for effort. Our defense isn’t good enough, and then we go ahead and just give it up.’”

Oats continued, “In hindsight, when I watched the film, it was equally on Chris Youngblood as it was on Derrion. Chris is supposed to be back. The guy ran by Derrion, so it was pretty obvious that Derrion gave it up, but Chris was supposed to be back at the rim in the lane, so that wasn’t even an option, even if Derrion did get overrun. So Chris should have gotten it as much as Derrion.

“Chris knew it, took the ownership for it in film.”

Reid has played in 14 of Alabama’s 15 games this season, missing one due to an ankle injury, and made three starts. The McDonald’s All-American is averaging 17.4 minutes per game and 7.9 points and 3.5 rebounds while shooting 47.7 percent from the field as a rookie. In the win over South Carolina, Reid posted season-highs in assists (3) and steals (2).

While obviously talented, coming to Tuscaloosa as the nation’s 16th-best recruit in 2024, Reid has carved out a significant role with the Tide because of his attitude and coachability.

“Derrion is one of the best young men I’ve ever coached,” Oats said. “His mother Marie’s done an unbelievable job raising them. She coaches him hard. She’s on him when he’s not playing hard. He’s about winning.

“… Derrion is an unbelievable kid. I love him. He’s super mature and coachable, and I love having him in our program. He’s getting better every game.”

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