Nate Oats expects to have assistant Ryan Pannone's replacement hired by the end of the week

Nate Oats lost one of his top assistant coaches in Ryan Pannone earlier this offseason. He was hired away from Alabama by Arkansas State, as the opportunity to become a head coach was too good to pass up.

Pannone had been in Tuscaloosa for two seasons, but now he’ll get the chance to take over his own program. As for Oats, he’s been trying to find a replacement ever since. The Crimson Tide leader provided an update on the matter on Wednesday.

“I’m still in the process of hiring an assistant coach to replace Pannone,” Oats revealed. “I’ve had some good interviews. We should be wrapping that up hopefully by the end of the week here.”

Alas, Pannone was a splashy hire for Alabama at the time, previously working with the New Orleans Pelicans in the NBA. Oats was able to bring him to the college game for the first time ever, and after some successful time together, he’ll now be a head coach.

It all worked out for both sides, and now it’ll be up to the Crimson Tide leader to find a suitable replacement. Who it is remains to be seen, but Nate Oats has been tremendous at building out his coaching staff and team as a whole since his arrival in Tuscaloosa. We’ll see if he can keep the train rolling.

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While Ryan Pannone headed elsewhere, Nate Oats was able to keep a key assistant with Alabama. Darian DeVries tried to hire Preston Murphy away from the Crimson Tide after taking over at Indiana, as the duo had a past, crossing paths while working at Creighton, but Murphy elected to remain with the SEC program.

Murphy seems to be close to getting a head coaching gig of his own, and his reputation on the recruiting trail precedes him. It isn’t hard to figure out why he opted to remain with Alabama for the time being, after the Crimson Tide made it to the Final Four two seasons ago, and the Elite Eight during the 2025 Men’s NCAA Tournament.

With Oats leading the charge and Murphy as one of his top confidants, there’s no telling how high Alabama can climb. The Crimson Tide have been as good as nearly any basketball program in the country over the last five years, and that doesn’t figure to change anytime soon as long as their leader remains.