Nate Oats endorses SEC's suspension of Mohamed Wague
Mohamed Wague earned a suspension from the Southeastern Conference for an elbow that he delivered to the head of an opponent during a win over Florida on Wednesday. Nate Oats has no doubts about it either based on how he has viewed the matter over the past two days.
Oats addressed the incident regarding Wague during his press conference on Friday. He said that he didn’t see the action happen during the 98-93 overtime win for Alabama but said he did speak to Wague afterward after it came to his attention. From there, he added that Wague has been apologetic about the matter, even so far as to offer his regret postgame and online.
“I didn’t even see the play. I had no idea that it even happened until after the game,” said Oats. “But, yeah, I did have a talk with him. It’s not something that we do.”
“He was extremely apologetic. For anybody that knows him, he’s a great kid,” Oats said. “I think he told me that he apologized to the kid in the handshake line. I think he reached out on social media, apologized to Alex (Condon) from Florida again.”
The elbow took place in the first half with several players hitting the floor for a loose ball. After he was stripped off an offensive rebound, Wague went to the floor. That’s where Condon and Jarin Stevenson were already rolling for possession. A loose ball foul was assessed to Thomas Haugh amidst the play but, upon the broadcast replay, you could see Wague bring his arm back and down on Condon’s head for the hit.
That led to the news on Thursday that the conference had suspended Wage for the one game.
Wague, the junior who transferred in from West Virginia, is averaging four points and 2.8 rebounds overall. He is playing 10 minutes a game for the Tide over 24 appearances in his first year in Tuscaloosa. His stat line featured just one rebound against Florida earlier this week.
Oats knows that Wague’s decision wasn’t a good one based on the action that he took against a player who didn’t know a hit was coming. That’s why he’s in full support of the league’s decision to keep him off the floor this weekend at Kentucky.
“There’s still consequences for your actions. I 100% agree with the SEC’s decision. If they didn’t suspend him, we would have suspended him. That’s not behavior we condone or tolerate around here. The penalty is appropriate for that situation.”
Oats’ immediate reaction to suspension of Mohamed Wague
On Thursday, the SEC suspended Alabama F Mohamed Wague for one game following an incident in the team’s win over Florida on Wednesday.
In a press release after the announcement, 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.”