Nate Oats travels to watch Alabama staffers win The Basketball Tournament, $1 million prize

Alabama basketball showed that they have winners on all levels of their staff as Nate Oats watched two staffers win The Basketball Tournament. Assistant coach Bryan Hodgson and director of scouting and analytics Adam Bauman served as the leaders of “Blue Collar U” — the team that won the annual 64-team basketball tournament. They defeated “Americana For Autism” by a score of 89-67 on Tuesday.

Nate Oats watches staff win The Basketball Tournament

The championship victory came with a $1 million prize, which the team will donate a portion of to Coaching Love Inc. The cause is a non-profit started by Hodgson to help children in the foster system. Hodgson himself was raised by a foster family in New York.

The team was composed of University of Buffalo alumni, with Hodgson serving as general manager for the team and Bauman working as their head coach. The Basketball Tournament, began in 2014, frequently features professional, amateur and college-level players.

Oats coached Buffalo for four seasons prior to joining the Crimson Tide, and was in attendance for the championship game for his former players and staff members. Last season, Hodgson and Bauman’s team fell short of the final game when they lost in the semifinal round of the tournament.

Up next for the Crimson Tide is a ten-day trip to Spain and France where Alabama will play three foreign teams during a special basketball tour.

Alabama is ramping up to enter the beginning of both their basketball and football seasons, with Nick Saban and the Crimson Tide starting their fall camp this week. The football season will begin shortly after their basketball team completes their overseas tour, as they host the Utah State Aggies on Sept. 3 at Bryant-Denny Stadium. One week after their season opener, Alabama travels to play Texas on the road in one of the most anticipated games of the early college football season.