On 6-year anniversary of hire, Nate Oats sets Alabama record for most NCAA Tournament wins
NEWARK, N.J. – Nate Oats landed in Tuscaloosa after agreeing to be Alabama’s next men’s basketball coach on March 27, 2019. Exactly six years later, he guided the Crimson Tide to a 113-88 win over BYU in the Sweet 16 to advance to a second straight Elite Eight.
Before the 2023-24 season, Alabama had only reached one Elite Eight in school history.
Oats joked that the Crimson Tide has played in the NCAA Tournament every year he has been at the helm – there was no March Madness in his first season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Alabama has reached the Sweet 16 in four of the last five years, and with Thursday’s win over the Cougars at Prudential Center, Oats picked up his 11th postseason win.
That’s more than any other Alabama head basketball coach, according to the school.
Oats took over for former coach Avery Johnson and turned the Tide into one of the best hoops programs in the country. Last year, the team played in its first-ever Final Four and is now one win away from making it back-to-back trips to the final weekend of the tournament. It will face the winner of tonight’s Duke-Arizona matchup on Sunday, March 29.
But when asked to reflect on how far the program has come under his watch, Oats noted the cupboard wasn’t completely barren when he took over, but teams couldn’t flip their rosters via the transfer portal like they can now. Oats also praised his assistant coaches and the talented players that he inherited, who all helped establish the Tide’s blue-collar culture.
“I’ve been fortunate to have some really good recruiters on staff to get us some very good players,” Oats said. “We were fortunate to walk into some good players. John Petty, all-time leading 3-point shooter, was already there. Avery left us some pretty good talent. Herb Jones, who’s been a pretty good NBA player. Alex Reese was here. Alex hit the big 3 in our second year to send it to overtime in the Sweet 16.
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“We kind of turned it in Year 2, made that Sweet 16 run. And then the recruiting, Bryan Hodgson, Antoine Pettway. Now, I got Preston Murphy. I’ve had some of the best recruiters in the country get some really good talent to play the way we want to play. I love playing this way. I think players want to play this way.”
Oats’ system was on full display in New Jersey, as Alabama set the NCAA Tournament record for the most 3-pointers made in a single game, surpassing Loyola Marymount (21 in 1990). It has proven to work as the Tide has been a consistent contender since Oats’ arrival six years ago, and with the lopsided BYU win, that shows no signs of slowing down.
“We’ve been able to get the talent, and hopefully we get to continue to get the talent, we keep the resources where we need to and keep making these runs,” Oats said. “I think the Alabama fans like us making deep runs in the NCAA Tournament. At least I do.”
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