Nate Oats reveals he picked Jim Boeheim, Frank Martin's brains on how to make run to Final Four
Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Nate Oats has made history, taking Alabama to the Final Four for the first time in program history. It was a difficult task, but one that Oats knew he would be able to accomplish at Alabama, especially after picking the brains of coaches like Jim Boeheim and Frank Martin on how to find that success.
Oats explained all of that while speaking to the media when he was asked about being picked fifth in the SEC to start the season and how he managed to motivate his players throughout the season despite being underdogs at times.
“I’m going to be honest, the last time they picked us the fifth best team in the SEC we won the whole thing. So my plan was to win the whole thing,” Nate Oats said. “But didn’t happen. We lost the game against Tennessee at home, which I thought we had a chance to win that. If we would have won that, we would have won the SEC again.”
“But they weren’t far off because we finished tied for fifth — tied for second, tied for fifth. There was a four-way tie there. We ended up with the 3 seed. But for a team picked fifth, and really — we haven’t been healthy for a while. Like the last time we were fully healthy we beat Texas A&M, who has a really good team. Shoot, they almost beat Houston when Houston was healthy. We beat them by 25,” Oats said.
“This turned out to be a pretty good team when we were healthy. For us to win these two games to go to a Final Four without [Latrell] Wrightsell, who was playing unbelievably well, as good as any guard we have, shows a lot about the character of the team. And Wrightsell was as good of an assistant coach as we had on the bench these last two games. He’s been great.”
At that point, Nate Oats praised the way that the foundation had been built at Alabama, making it a place where a Final Four run was possible.
“But this team has come a long ways, the program, the staff. I’ve got three brand new assistants. I’m happy for the three assistants that left that helped lay this foundation for other people that have moved on that laid the foundation. To be honest with you, some previous coaches, we walked into a pretty good talent pool. Avery did a pretty good job getting talent here. We were able to win in our second-year with the talent he brought in — Herb, Petty, Reese,” Oats said.
“So you don’t want to ignore the fact that a pretty good foundation — Greg Byrne knows what he’s doing — gives us everything we need to succeed. And here we are, in the school’s first ever Final Four. When I got the job, I thought before I ever took the job, Rick, my agent and me talked, and he said, look, they’ve got all the resources you need to be able to win at Alabama. We need to go get this job. I trust him. He knows what he’s doing. They do have all the resources you need to win. We put together a few good teams. You just need to keep knocking on the door.”
It’s also not like Alabama hasn’t been a No. 1 seed before under Nate Oats. In 2023, the Crimson Tide were a top seed in the Tournament. Despite that, they only made it to the Sweet 16.
“Last year, overall No. 1 seed, we should have been in the Final Four, doesn’t work that way. The best team doesn’t always win because it’s a one-game elimination tournament. You’ve got to be hot at the right time. And we looked like we were not hot at the right time losing, what, four of our last six going into this tournament.”
It was at this point that Nate Oats explained that he reached out to both Jim Boeheim and Frank Martin, who have made Final Four runs, to ask them for advice on the process.
“But our staff was good. We looked at some other teams that were similar to this. Syracuse did it twice. I called Jim Boeheim on that Sunday, like, what have we got to do? I talked to him, maybe it was that Saturday. I called Frank Martin. South Carolina made a Final Four run when they weren’t hot at the end of the year. I asked him what he did. I tried to pick the brain. I called Coach [Nick] Saban. What have we got to do. And he kind of gave me the ‘next’ idea — next, next, next,” Oats said.
“So guys bought in. We can make this run. Other teams have done it. We have the capability to do it. We’ve got to get back to playing great defense — or start to playing great defense; I don’t know if ‘back’ is the correct word.”
This was, at the end of the day, a historic season for Alabama no matter what happens next. For just the second time in program history, Alabama made the Elite Eight and then the Crimson Tide made their first Final Four.
“But we can have the No. 1 offense in the country; we had it for the majority of the year. Let’s put a top-20 defense together and we can make a Final Four.” Oats said. “And I think we did that.”