Nate Oats addresses SEC's decision to suspend Mohamed Wague
On Thursday, the SEC suspended Alabama forward Mohamed Wague one game following an incident in the team’s win over Florida on Wednesday. In a press release, Alabama head coach Nate Oats responded to the suspension.
“We received the discipline for Mo from the SEC and agree with the suspension,” Oats wrote, per On3’s James Fletcher III. “After reviewing the film, the penalty is understandable and appropriate.”
Cameras caught Wague throwing an elbow into the back of the head of Florida forward Alex Condon in the first half. The incident in question occurred during a scramble for a loose ball. Wague appeared to lower his arm on Condon in the pile after the two collided while going for the ball.
Officials whistled the play dead for a foul on Florida, and play continued on without a review. But, once league officials had a chance to review the tape following the game, they deemed the hit by Wague unnecessary and untoward, tagging him with a suspension for the following game.
Mohamed Wague is a rotational reserve for Alabama, playing 10.0 minutes per game. He averages 4.0 points and 2.8 rebounds per game, while also chipping in the occasional block. Due to the suspension, he will be unavailable for Alabama’s matchup against No. 17 this weekend.
Nate Oats prepares his team for run in March
Despite the setback, Alabama escaped Wednesday with a vital win. After the game, Oats weighed in on his team’s gritty performance.
“Honestly, we didn’t play well in a lot of areas and still found a way to win against a good team,” Oats said. “Like, if we get in a tough game in the tournament, you know, we’re going to reference these ones.”
He’s referencing this game and chiefly another victory over Georgia earlier in the season where Alabama needed a late rally to come back and earn that win.
“We’re down a lot bigger against Georgia on the road, figured out a way to win. Down 10 (versus Florida) with eight minutes left and figure out a way to get enough stops you know and get to overtime and have enough grit and determination to build seven-point lead,” Oats said.
“Now, we got to do a better job once we build that seven-point lead in overtime of pulling away and winning it by 10-12, not making it a one-point game.”
Either way, those are both wins where Alabama had to find some real backbone in order to pull off. Per Oats, those results ought to be confidence-builders going forward.
“We can reference these comebacks that we’ve had,” Oats said. “It’s hard to win six straight games in March. It’s not that easy to win three straight games against really good teams in the tournament.
“When when we get down, if we get down in one of those SEC Tournament games or NCAA Tournament games, you reference these games where we’ve been down and came back and win — give them some belief, some hope.”