‘Harder to Turn It Around’: Nate Oats on Building Alabama Before NIL Era

NEWARK, N.J.— The Crimson Tide didn’t just win. They beat BYU by 25 points (113–88), and set a new NCAA record for most three-pointers made during a tournament game with 25. They’ll play in their second consecutive Elite Eight in Newark Saturday night.

After the victory, Alabama coach Nate Oats reflected on how he’s built such a dominant program throughout the past six years. He noted that, unlike in the current era of “unrestricted free agency,” it took a bit longer.

“Obviously when I got the job, we didn’t have the transfer portal, eligibility immediately, NIL, so it was a little harder to turn it around immediately like you can now,” Oats, who was hired in 2019 after four years as the head coach of Buffalo, told reporters. “So we had [Jahvon] Quinerly … But he couldn’t play. He had to sit that year. That was like the last guy the NCAA wouldn’t let play. You can’t flip your roster like you can now.”

Alabama has made it to the NCAA tournament five out of the six years since Oats arrived in Tuscaloosa (with the exception of the 2020 year when the tournament was canceled due to COVID-19). Last year, the Crimson Tide made it to the Final Four, but was knocked out by the 2024 national champions, the UConn Huskies.

The program is also a key component of the powerhouse league that the SEC has built throughout the past several years. The league was one considered an afterthought in men’s basketball, but has since boosted itself to become a force. This year, the SEC sent a record 14 teams to the Big Dance, and seven made it to the Sweet 16. (The first two Sweet 16 games Thursday night both saw SEC teams as winners—in San Francisco, Florida beat Maryland 87–71.)

“When you play this way and you show everybody—even our first year, we played this way,” Oats said. “We just didn’t have as much talent to do it. And now we’ve been able to get the talent and hopefully we get to continue to get the talent, we keep the resources where we need to and keep making these runs. I think the Alabama fans like us making deep runs in the NCAA Tournament. At least I do.”