The University of Alabama and Nate Oats have agreed to a contract extension. The deal will last through the end of the 2026-27 season, and his salary will increase to $3.225 million per year.<\/p>\n
Nate Oats has found a home in Tuscaloosa and will be staying put for a while. The Alabama men\u2019s head basketball coach was rewarded with a contract extension and pay raise yesterday. Oats came to Alabama last season on a three-year deal, and because of the Crimson Tide\u2019s exceptional play this season, he earned another three years.<\/p>\n
Alabama Director of Athletics, Greg Byrne, said of the deal, \u201cWe had great expectations when we hired Coach Oats. He has exceeded those expectations.\u201d<\/p>\n
Stuart R. Bell, the university\u2019s president, added, \u201cWe are very proud of what our men\u2019s basketball program has accomplished in just a short period of time under Coach Oats\u2019 leadership. His emphasis on effort, continuous growth, and selflessness has helped our student-athletes excel on the court, in the classroom, and in the community.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Crimson Tide are certainly excelling.<\/p>\n
Alabama is currently 17-5 overall and 12-1 in Southeastern Conference play. The Tide sit at No. 8 in the AP Top 25 poll, which is their highest ranking since 2006-07. Also, Alabama is on pace for a high-seed in the NCAA Tournament. The latest projections<\/a> have the Tide as a No. 2 seed.<\/p>\n Oats said of his team\u2019s play, \u201cWe feel like we have a lot of positive momentum going with our team and have the program headed in the right direction.\u201d<\/p>\n Alabama has four remaining conference games on their schedule and can clinch the SEC regular-season title. If the Tide were to maintain their solid play, they could claim said title for the first time in 20 years. Alabama can clinch on Saturday with a win and losses by Arkansas and LSU, but their best chance may come Wednesday. The Tide travel to Fayetteville to face the second-place Razorbacks. Arkansas is 3.5 games behind Alabama in the SEC standings.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re not going to talk about it until it\u2019s done and over,\u201d Oats told AL.com<\/a>. \u201cThen we\u2019ll congratulate them and get ready to play the next game.\u201d<\/p>\n All signs point to a Tide title<\/a>. Alabama leads the SEC in rebounds per game (40.4) and total three-pointers made (240) and three-point percentage (36.6%). They rank third in points per game (80.8) and second in scoring (1778).<\/p>\n This is due to Oats\u2019 high-octane offense. His players love to run, they love to shoot, and they may cause some difficult matchups for opponents in the NCAA Tournament. Led by senior John Petty Jr.<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0and sophomore Jaden Shackelford<\/a><\/strong>, the guard play for Alabama is outstanding. Adding the great defensive prowess of senior forward Herbert Jones<\/a><\/strong>, the Tide are set to make a deep run.<\/p>\n Many know the coach as the man who earlier challenged Duke Head Coach Mike Krzyzewski<\/a>\u2019s comments about pausing the season. However, there is more to Nate Oats.<\/p>\n Oats began his career on the coaching staff at his old high school, Maranatha Baptist, in Watertown, Wisconsin. After spending two seasons as an assistant at Division-III\u2019s University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, Oats returned to the high school circuit. He was the head basketball coach and math teacher at Romulus High School outside of Detroit.<\/p>\n Oats became an assistant at the University of Buffalo 11 years later. In 2015, he became the head coach of the Bulls and went 96-43 at the helm. Oats led Buffalo to three Mid-American Conference Tournament Championships, as well as three NCAA Tournament appearances.<\/p>\n Alabama then came calling in 2019, and after just two seasons, he has the Tide rolling<\/a>. He earned this extension, and Alabama knows something about good coaching.<\/p>\n Oats told the press, \u201cWe are excited to agree to a contract extension with the University of Alabama. Crystal and our daughters love it here, and we are committed to The University of Alabama.\u201d<\/p>\n Alabama is committed to proving they are a basketball school as well.<\/p>\n Main Photo:Who Is Nate Oats?<\/h4>\n
\nEmbed from Getty Images<\/a>