Alabama Crimson Tide hires Nate Oats as new men’s basketball coach
By Anthony Caruso III | Publisher
Nearly one month after signing a five-year contract extension with the Buffalo Bulls, Nate Oats has a new job. He has been hired as the Alabama Crimson Tide men’s basketball coach.
Oats takes over for former coach Avery Johnson, who parted ways with the school over the weekend.
The 44-year-old Watertown, Wisconsin native was the Bulls head coach for four seasons. This past seasom, he guided to Buffalo to a 32-4 record. The team also had a 16-2 conference record.
He guided the team to the Round of 32 for the second straight year. Last year, the Bulls had a 27-9 record.
In his tenure at the school, he was 97-43. His worst record was a 17-15 record during the 2016-17 season.
On March 14th, he signed a five-year extension with the Bulls. Either Oats or the Crimson Tide had to pay the Bulls a buy out to get out of his contract.
His name also came up with the Nebraska Cornhuskers job. Former Tim Miles was fired by the school on Tuesday.
Johnson — the former NBA player, who never was a college head coach before being hired at Alabama — he went 75-62 at the school over four seasons. He had a 34-38 conference record.
This past season, he guided the team to an 18-16 record. For the second straight season, the Crimson Tide had an 8-10 conference record.
Only once in his tenure did Alabama make the NCAA Tournament, which came in 2017-18 when the team went to the second-round. However, the other three seasons, the team reached the NIT Tournament.
