Alabama basketball coach Nate Oats made the most of his time with the crowds ahead of Alabama football vs. Missouri on Saturday.
Although homecoming brought Crimson Tide fans to Tuscaloosa for football, Oats found an opportunity to remind them that tipoff was just over a week away with an appearance on " Marty & McGee ."
Hosts Marty Smith and Ryan McGee sat opposite Oats ahead of the game, joshing him with old pictures from college days when he played football and asking questions about how the sixth-year skipper plans on bringing the program its first national championship .
McGee even noted that former Alabama football safety Roman Harper ran up to him before the interview and yelled, "You need to explain to everybody that it's a basketball school now."
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Here's what Oats let us know about himself, Alabama basketball and the 2024-25 season .
Alabama basketball made the Final Four last season, but Oats is looking ahead.
"When you're in the program and talking to the team and everybody inside, that last year has nothing to do with this year," Oats said, adding that the Crimson Tide has eight new members on the roster this year.
"They had nothing to do with it last year," Oats said.
Oats admitted that those new additions in transfers like Cliff Omoruyi (Rutgers) and Chris Youngblood (USF) or freshmen Derrion Reid and Labaron Philon "may have helped" getting the team's latest accolades like No. 2 in the nation in the preseason coaches poll or being the favorite to win the SEC.
Basketball is Oats' game now, but he knew how to ball on the football field back in the day. When shown a picture of himself as a student-athlete at Maranatha Baptist, Oats was happy to see that the gray hair he's rocking now isn't "too far off" from the blonde he had in his youth. The former wide receiver shared that he led his high school team with 16 yards per catch and played two years of college football before finishing out his playing career in basketball.
Oats got some extra credibility once Smith pointed out the Neumann brand receiver gloves, which the latter called "the greatest football accessory in the history of the game."
"Keep working," Oats said.
Since his arrival in Tuscaloosa five years ago, Alabama has picked up 62 conference wins. Oats said he "had no idea" this would be his life now when his coaching career started as an assistant for his alma mater at the Division III level.
It's a simple cause-and-effect to Oats. Alabama's culture and style of play is "like the NBA" to Oats.
"They're trying to get ready to play in the NBA," he continued. "That helps a little bit, too."
When asked what challenges the program has been facing with five returning stars and eight new ones in the mix, Oats didn't flinch.
"It is all good," he said.
"Your program can change so much in one year, positive and negative," he explained. "You have to get the right people in with the right character. I think if you don't do your homework and really build a culture that guys want to be involved in, teams take a heavy drop off."
Emilee Smarr covers Alabama basketball and Crimson Tide athletics for the Tuscaloosa News. She can be reached via email at esmarr@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: 5 things we know about Nate Oats, Alabama hoops after 'Marty & McGee'
