The University of Alabama was known as just a football school but now, as a basketball school, all because of a head coach by the name of Nate Oats. 

   He went from a high school basketball coach to a mens college basketball head coach.      Last year, the Crimson Tide appeared in their very first Final Four in school history.        Alabama fans have watched their football team win title after title under head coach Nick Saban. In his coaching career, Saban had seven national championship titles with six of those being at Alabama. Now, Alabama fans and students get to watch a winning basketball team.  

    Oats was once the head coach at Rumols High School in Detroit, Michigan. He was also a high school teacher.  After much success at the high school level, he became the head coach at Buffalo University. He led the team to a Mid-American Conference title win and a tournament appearance. They lost to Kentucky but they made the NCAA Tournament which is impressive, especially for a small school like Buffalo because they do not make the tournament very often.

   He left his position at Buffalo after he was hired as the University of Alabama’s head mens basketball coach. In 2021, he led Alabama  to an SEC Title and they made it to the NCAA tournament. In 2023, the team appeared in another NCAA Tournament, where they made it to the sweet sixteen before they fell to San Diego State. Last year, they lost in the SEC tournament but then made it to the Final Four in the NCAA Tournament, and lost to Purdue.

    This was a big accomplishment for this University, considering they are typically known for football. Alabama is currently sixth in the entire country. They are headed to the Southeastern Conference tournament to compete for a Southeastern Conference Title and also will head to an NCAA tournament to compete for a title. One of their players, Mark Sears, is ranked as the number one Southeastern Conference Player of the Week.  Last year, Oats was rumored by fans to be considered for the Kentucky head coaching job, but  he declined it and decided to stay at Alabama.