Alabama has found their new basketball coach and it’s not who many fans wanted, but that doesn’t mean it’s a bad hire in the least.
Avery Johnson is out and Nate Oats is in as the new head basketball coach at Alabama. The news was announced by athletic director Greg Byrne on Wednesday afternoon, days after parting ways with Johnson.
Oats comes from Buffalo where he led the Bulls to the NCAA Tournament’s Round of 32 the last two seasons after taking over for Bobby Hurley four years ago when he took the Arizona State job.
After leading Buffalo to a 32-4 record and a second straight MAC championship, Oats put himself on the radar for a bigger job. After leading Buffalo to the second round of the Tournament this year with a win over his former mentor in Hurley, his opportunity arose in Tuscaloosa and he took it.
However, this wasn’t the dream target for Alabama fans who were hoping for a much bigger name, a coach with a much longer resume and a coach who has cut down the nets as a national champion. That coach is Rick Pitino who was fired by Louisville amid controversy and has a reputation as one of the dirtiest coaches in basketball history.
Would he have won games at Alabama? No doubt about it.
Is this the way Byrne and the Alabama administration want to go about it? No chance in hell.
So while there may be a faction of the Alabama fanbase that’s upset Oats isn’t Pitino, that doesn’t mean Oats is a bad hire. In fact, it’s a tremendous hire.
Oats brings a blue-collar mentality of demanding maximum effort, continuous growth and self-love from his players in what he calls his blue-collar points. At Alabama, he’ll be able to recruit a higher-profile level talent than at Buffalo so coupled with his coaching values and a more talented roster, Oats can have Alabama competing for NCAA Tournament berths on an annual basis.
All they want is a consistent winner. If he does that, Alabama fans will fully embrace him.