Paul Finebaum speculates Nate Oats could be a top candidate if Kentucky moves on from John Calipari
There are now questions about Kentucky head coach John Calipari and his future with the program. Because of those concerns, analyst Paul Finebaum thinks that, if he were to get pushed out of Kentucky, the Wildcats could turn to Alabama head coach Nate Oats as his replacement.
Finebaum, while discussing Alabama’s success under Oats and their current trip to the Sweet 16 on McElroy and Cubelic in the Morning, explained that it’s a major question if Oats would leave Alabama.
“I think the ultimate question here is what happens now to this program?” Paul Finebaum asked. “Do they figure out the facilities situation? Is that enough to keep Nate Oats?”
“I read, just like you did, he just got an extension. That’s pretty typical nowadays in college basketball, but I can tell you that Nate Oats is going to be a coveted man out there. For whatever reason, if John Calipari was pushed out tomorrow, I have no doubt Nate Oats would be in that top realm of candidates to replace him,” Finebaum said.
“That’s the same at other schools, and he probably already has been offered other schools but he turned them down because of the extension. But, he will be a difficult coach to keep at Alabama long term.”
Nate Oats came to Alabama in 2019. He had previously coached at Buffalo. During his time running the Crimson Tide program, Alabama has a 115-53 record with four NCAA Tournament appearances. This season is his third taking Alabama to the Sweet 16. Previously, Alabama had only made the Sweet 16 once in the 21st century.
Meanwhile, John Calipari at Kentucky has won a national championship. However, it has become an increasingly tense relationship between him and fans as the Wildcats have gone since 2019 since they made it past opening weekend at the NCAA Tournament.
Paul Finebaum: Kentucky is in ‘worst possible place’ with John Calipari
Emphasizing how difficult the place the relationship between Kentucky and John Calipari is in right now, Paul Finebaum argued it’s a similar situation to the one Texas A&M was in with Jimbo Fisher.
“They’re at the worst possible place. There is great division, there isn’t a clear path forward and you have a coach who is probably there only because of the price tag on what it would be to get rid of him,” Finebaum said.
“Stop me if we weren’t talking about this about a year ago with Jimbo Fisher and we saw how that ended. It’s never a good situation when the only reason a coach remains is his buyout. I’m not a pollster in the Commonwealth, but Kentucky fans I hear from are very mixed. In fact, I hear more against Cal than I do for.”