Nate Oats is one of the most experienced coaches in college basketball. He started his coaching journey with his alma mater in 1997 and has been a part of several programs in a nearly three-decade-long career.
In 2015, the Buffalo Bulls promoted him to the head coaching position, giving him his first opportunity to lead a program. In 2019, Oats joined the Alabama Crimson Tide men’s basketball program and has been with the team since.
With a 261–113 overall record, Oats is also among the most successful coaches in college basketball. Most coaches aim to upgrade to the NBA after gaining experience in college. Oats also has that dream.
During a recent appearance on College Sports on SiriusXM, he was asked about his interest in NBA jobs.
“We would have to win an awful lot of games here for me to make that jump,” he said.
Some coaches have left their blueprint behind for people like Oats to follow. In his opinion, someone like Brad Stevens did it the right way. Stevens coached the Butler Bulldogs from 2007 to 2013 and joined the Boston Celtics. He coached the Celtics until 2021 before moving to an executive role.
But there’s a difference between Oats and Stevens.
“Probably the one who’s done it best most recently is Brad Stevens, and man, he went to a national championship at Butler,” he said.
Oats took the Crimson Tide to the NCAA Division I Regional – Final Four in 2024. He has won three MAC tournaments and has been the MAC Coach of the Year twice, in 2018 and 2019. Oats believes he still has some work to do before he can make that jump.
Nate Oats is Happy in Alabama
When coaches have years of association with a team and a city, they find it difficult to move on. Their lives and their families are established in one place, and uprooting everything to chase the NBA dream can be a tough task to pull off.
Oats loves where he is right now. He has his family with him, and they’re all established within that system. He is also worried about the NBA routine and whether it’ll take time away from his family.
“I’ve got to focus on winning a lot of games here. I love it here. I’ve got two young daughters … I’m not sure how conducive the NBA is to raising a family. But I love learning from the NBA, I love watching it. I don’t know what the future holds,” he said.
Oats stated that he’ll keep trying to win games and titles with the Crimson Tide and see where the future takes him.
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