Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Nate Oats is in focus after he led the program to the Sweet 16, taking down Texas Tech in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. The 90-65 win ensured Oats successfully took Alabama into the Sweet 16 for the fourth straight season.
With the renewed focus, fans want to know about his personal life, including his wife, Crystal Oats.
Who Is Nate Oats’ Wife Crystal?
Nate Oats and Crystal reportedly met at Maranatha Baptist University. Nate played college basketball there while Crystal used to play college volleyball. They got married in 1997 and have been together for nearly 30 years.
Crystal was born on September 28, 1974. She is from Jackson, Mississippi, and by profession, she is a nurse.
Nate and Crystal have three daughters: Lexie, Jocie and Brielle. Together, they make the major support system for the Crimson Tide head coach.
In 2015, Crystal was diagnosed with double-hit lymphoma, an aggressive cancer. Initial diagnosis stated the condition very serious, after which she underwent intense chemotherapy.
Nate once feared that Crystal wouldn’t make it. In an interview from Dec. 2020, he said:
“We were furniture shopping and I just remember walking in and out of some furniture stores in a daze, trying to act like life’s going to go on normal but knowing this is anything but normal. There’s a good chance she doesn’t make it. In my mind, I’ve got three daughters. This is not good. Then you kind of get your mind right — OK, we can make it. Let’s figure this out.”
Oats even considered stepping away from coaching to take care of his wife. However, Crystal encouraged him to keep the job.
“There were circumstances surrounding that where I had to make some decisions about whether I wanted to be the Christian man that I said I was, or whether I wanted to be hypocritical,” he said on the Sports Spectrum Podcast in 2019. “I didn’t want that. So in the last four years — three-and-a-half years or so — I really had a lot of introspection to where you evaluate where you’re at as a man and what you want.”
Crystal underwent multiple rounds of chemo and a bone marrow transplant afterward. The procedure worked and by August 2016, she was diagnosed cancer-free. The battle with cancer only strengthened the bond between the two.
On the occasion of their anniversary in Dec. 2019, Oats recalled the turbulent cancer journey and how the couple were able to get past that with the help of each other.
“Can’t believe it’s been 22 years today since we were married. Through God’s grace we’ve made it this far. Through the good and the bad we’ve decided to love each other daily, & I can honestly say our love is stronger today than at any time in the past. Happy Anniversary
@cmoats74,” he wrote on X.
Both Crystal and Nate Oats are big believers in the Christian faith.
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