Who is Nate Oats? No, really. Alabama’s stealthy new hire to lead its basketball program isn’t exactly the household name Avery Johnson brought four years ago. A casual fan of the sport might have missed the program Oats ran at Buffalo the last few seasons. So, as you process the news, we did the homework on exactly who Nate Oats is, in case you weren’t following along already. -- A Wisconsin native, the 44-year old Oats made a name for himself coaching in the Great Lakes region. He played at Division III Maranatha Baptist University where he majored in math education. He coached there, then Wisconsin-Whitewater from 2000-02. -- The next 11 years were spend as the head coach at Romulus High School in suburban Detroit, right across Interstate-94 from the Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport. His teams went 222-52 including a 27-1 final season and the school’s first state title in 27 years. Oats’ teams were ranked nationally three times. “It’s not like we have a bunch of NBA players,” Oats said after winning the 2013 state title, according to MLive.com. "We know we’ve got to play hard.” -- Oats was also a math teacher at Romulus. -- In a January profile in The Athletic, Oats explained his recruiting outlook while saying he had 18 Division players as a high school coach. “I got to see really good recruiters come in that were really personable, great people,” Oats told reporter Brian Hamilton. “I got to see arrogant pricks come in, and I never wanted to be that guy. I got to see the guys that come in, they kiss my butt as the head coach and ignore my assistants and act like they weren’t even there, weren’t human beings. Well, that doesn’t work either because my assistants are working those kids out every day.” -- That said, he has no experience in the south, so hiring assistants with local connections will be a big piece of that puzzle. -- Oats likes his teams to be hard-nosed, playing with an edge and a fast-paced style. “We have five non-negotiables,” Oats said last week at the NCAA tournament. “No. 1 is ball pressure. If we're not pressuring the ball in practice, we call it game over. Game over, get on the end line, run your sprint. You lost the game. This isn't something we turn up for the NCAA Tournament. This is who we are through the course of the year.” -- There’s also some swagger in the step of the father of three. As a January AP story noted, Oats’ tweeted “Be careful what you wish for” after beating St. Bonaventure when its students chanted “We want UB.” -- His Buffalo team stunned No.4 seeded Arizona in the first round of the NCAA tournament in 2018 in a 27-win season that broke a school record. After beating the Wildcats, Oats drew attention for calling Pac-12 defenses “soft,” according to Yahoo Sports. -- An 11-game winning streak that opened this season included a win at No. 13 West Virginia and another at Syracuse. -- After beating Syracuse 71-59 in December in the Carrier Dome, Oats’ assessment was blunt. “No disrespect to (Syracuse) but I think we do have better players,” Oats said, according to Syracuse.com. “I told the team that. I said going into this game we’re the better team. I think we play harder.” -- Buffalo hired Oats as an assistant coach in 2013 by Bobby Hurley. What’s the connection there? The Detroit News reported Hurley was recruiting one of Oats’ players as an assistant coach at Rhode Island and was impressed with his style. When Hurley was hired at Buffalo, Oats was on his list. The Bulls went 42-20 in his two seasons as an assistant including the programs’ first NCAA tournament appearance. -- Oats and Buffalo turned around and beat Hurley’s Arizona State team last week in the NCAA tournament as the better-seeded team. -- Hurley described Oats as an unfiltered straight shooter, according to Yahoo Sports. “There’s almost a naïve youthfulness, as he just has a natural joy for the game of basketball,” Hurley said in the profile. -- Oats preaches an intense defensive style. "We don't care who we're playing -- we're gonna come out and be the aggressors," Oats said in a 2019 ESPN story. "As long as you play hard and you give us max effort with a great attitude, I'm going to let you play through slumps." -- Oats’ Buffalo team ranked 21st in adjusted offensive efficiency and 31st in adjusted defensive efficiency on KenPom.com this season. -- Buffalo also had a “mental skills coach” who helped with the psychological aspects of the game, according to multiple news reports. Arnie Guin is a registered psychotherapist, according to SB Nation, who helped with positive visualization. “If you do it for the sole purpose of winning games, it's all wrong,” Oats said before last week’s NCAA tournament second-round loss to Texas Tech. “You do it because it's the right thing to do. It's my job as a coach to help these -- we get them as young men or boys coming out of high school, and when we get done with them, they're supposed to go into society. They're men now on their own. Not going back home to mommy.” -- Oats was obviously a hot name on the radar of coaching searches coming off another big season. He signed a contract extension with Buffalo recently with a raise above the $800,000 range but Alabama paid Avery Johnson north of $3 million with bonuses last year. -- “I love it here,” Oats told The Athletic recently of Buffalo. “I don’t really want to move. I’d love to be able to continue to coach a top-25 team. So, if we can keep it at that…” Michael Casagrande is an Alabama beat writer for the Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @ByCasagrande or on Facebook.<doc-sep>The Telegraph Two of the surprise packages of this clay-court season have been British – initially Dan Evans, who made a deep run in Monte Carlo, and more lately Cameron Norrie, who played his second final in three weeks on Sunday. Unfortunately, Norrie wasn’t able to land a maiden ATP title in Lyon. But then he was up against Stefanos Tsitsipas, who has been the dominant force of 2021 outside the slams, and now stands at No 1 in the table of most rankings points gained since January 1. Nevertheless, it had been a hugely creditable effort for Norrie to go this far, especially when you consider that he took out top seed Dominic Thiem on Thursday, and then trounced big-hitting Russian Karen Khachanov in Saturday’s semi-final, losing only two games in the process. Norrie has come to clay late in his career, but it feels like this is developing into his favourite surface. He has one of the heaviest left-handed forehands in the game, loaded with top-spin, and uses it like a miniature version of Rafael Nadal. The result has been a tally of 14 wins and only four losses since he began his European clay-court swing in Barcelona. So while the French Open, which starts next Sunday, has traditionally been a graveyard of British hopes, there are reasons to hope that this year’s event could deliver some more positive results. Norrie’s previous final in Estoril had been a nervewracking affair which he eventually lost on a deciding-set tie-break to the more experienced Spaniard Albert Ramos-Vinolas. Sunday was more straightforward for Tsitsipas, who needed only 69 minutes to hammer home a 6-3, 6-3 victory. It was Tsitsipas’ second title of the clay-court sequence, after he won Monte Carlo in mid-April, taking out Evans in the semi-final along the way. He has become a serious contender to upset the establishment – specifically Nadal and Novak Djokovic – at Roland Garros over the next few weeks. “I felt in good shape from the beginning of the tournament,” said Tsitsipas afterwards. “I am proud of today’s match, I knew it would be a difficult one against Cameron, who has been showing great tennis this week. He has been winning against good players and showing what the left hand can do on clay. “It was not an easy match today. I had to handle the nerves and I am proud of my performance and the way I stayed focused towards my goal.” On this year’s results, meanwhile, both Evans and Norrie stand among the world’s 20 most successful men. Evans is at No 16 and Norrie No 14. The next challenge for them both is to convert that ATP Tour form into a deep run at a major.<doc-sep>TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- Nate Oats doesn’t have a timetable to complete his Alabama coaching staff, but he also doesn’t want to take a lot of time in getting assistants to join his Crimson Tide bench. Following his introductory press conference at the Mal M. Moore Athletic Facility, he said he plans to bring one of his assistant coaches from Buffalo with him, barring a promotion, in Bryan Hodgson. “He’s definitely coming unless -- he’s supposed to get an interview up there, so obviously he could get the head job,” Oats said Thursday. “But I think they’re going to interview two of my former assistants -- Coach (Jim) Whitesell and Coach Hodgson both. So, we’ll figure it out. It’s a lot of moving parts, and it’s not easy, either. Sometimes you come in and everybody’s gone, and it’s great that there’s three assistants here continuing to keep things rolling and they’ve got a really good reputation amongst the department. I had great conversations with all three today.” Hodgson just finished up his fourth season at Buffalo, helping guide the Bulls to a trio of NCAA Tournament appearances. He led the Buffalo recruiting efforts and oversaw the 2018 class that was ranked 76th nationally, according to the 247Sports Composite ranking -- the highest ranking in program history. Four-star guard signee Jeenathan Williams was ranked 131st overall. Oats said Buffalo wants to have the hiring process of its next head coach completed in the next week and a half or so. Hodgson flew to Tuscaloosa along with Oats on Wednesday evening. On Thursday morning, the new men’s basketball head coach met with the three assistants from Alabama’s 2018-19 team -- John Pelphrey, Antoine Pettway and Yasir Rosemond -- and will consider keeping at least one of them on his inaugural staff over the next week or two. “All three guys that are here are great guys,” Oats said. “The administration loves them, everybody I’ve talked to has had nothing but good things to say about them. It’s a hard spot to be in. Nobody really comes in and keeps all three -- it just doesn’t happen often. But in all likelihood, we’re going to keep some. I just don’t know what. And to be honest with you, on the first day, I told them all it wouldn’t be fair to decide whether to hire you or not hire you based on a 30-minute conversation.” New Alabama basketball coach Nate Oats Although he has been to the state before, Oats made his first trip to Tuscaloosa on Wednesday. So, how important will it be to Oats to have an assistant with a presence in the state of Alabama? “I definitely think that would help,” Oats said. “I don’t want to come in here as a guy that’s never been in Alabama before and hire three guys that don’t know the state of Alabama. I mean, Alabama’s got players, athletes on a yearly basis that want to go to the University of Alabama. I don’t want to upset the state of Alabama. And not even that, it was important for me up in Buffalo to have a guy that a western New York guy. I think it’s going to be important for me at Alabama to have at least one guy who whether he’s actually from Alabama originally but at least knows and has connections in the state of Alabama.” As a former high school coach, Oats said he is going to talk to a handful of high school coaches and build relationships with them. When asked about considering them for his staff, he said this: “I’ve got a lot of respect for high school coaches. And I was fortunate that the Hurley family with them having a Hall of Fame high school coach for a father, respected high school coaches like they did, for me to get in with them. But I’ll say this -- I was offered jobs based on me bringing players with me at Romulus and I never took those. I didn’t want to get in like that. I wanted to get in based on me as a coach, not based on player X or Y. And I don’t want to name names. “But it certainly helps to have players to build those relationships. I definitely built the relationships as strong as I could when I had those opportunities to, and I’m more than willing to build relationships with plenty of high school coaches. Obviously, if they have players, there’s going to be more of a reason for me to want to talk to them.” Contact Charlie Potter by 247Sports' personal messaging or on Twitter (@Charlie_Potter). *** Take advantage of 30% OFF our Annual VIP Pass for the first year ***<doc-sep>The UB Bulls were 96-43 under Oats and recently made it to the second round of the NCAA tournament. They have won four MAC titles in the past five years. "I want to thank the UB administration for helping us elevate Buffalo into one of the premier mid-major programs in the country," said Oats in a statement sent out by UB athletics on Wednesday afternoon. "The support we have received from the Western New York community during the good times and the bad times has been nothing short of amazing. This community has made Buffalo feel like home for Crystal and my family over the last six years."<doc-sep>
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- Nate Oats was a high school coach and math teacher making a five-figure salary six years ago. Then he made a rapid ascent as a Buffalo assistant and head coach and is now set to lead Alabama. The men's basketball program hasn't kept pace in the Southeastern Conference, which has grown stronger overall in recent years. But Oats did the math and believes the Crimson Tide can make it to Final Fours, though the program never has. "Obviously, the money doesn't hurt, but it's more about `OK, how high a level can you take" the program? Oats said Thursday after being formally introduced as the new Tide coach. "I'd like to play for national championships. I'm a competitor, I'm ultra-competitive on everything. "Can you do that here? Yeah, I believe you can. I mean, they proved it in I don't know how many other different sports. You go through the list of sports that have won national championships here, they've got a bunch of them. Football competes for it every year. There's no reason we can't get to that level." Oats agreed to a five-year deal, but Alabama athletic director Greg Byrne declined to release financial terms of the contract. Oats is replacing Avery Johnson, who made one NCAA tournament in four seasons. While Alabama has only been to the NCAA tournament twice since 2006, Buffalo made the field three times in Oats' four seasons since replacing Bobby Hurley as head coach. The Bulls are coming off a 32-4 season and back-to-back Mid-American Conference regular season and tournament championships. Oats' first recruiting visit was with freshman leading scorer Kira Lewis Jr., among the Tide players reportedly exploring a possible transfer. He said Lewis stood out when he was watching Alabama film before interviewing for the job. "I'm going to do everything I can to make sure he's playing in an Alabama uniform next year," Oats said. Guard Dazon Ingram has already announced plans to leave as a graduate transfer. Oats said he "100 percent" has to recruit the current players. Byrne announced the hiring on Wednesday after spending five hours with Oats and his family in Buffalo. Byrne said he spoke with "several" candidates but Oats' interview went on twice as long as any of the others. Byrne reached out to Michigan State coach Tom Izzo, a friend of Alabama football coach Nick Saban since their days as young Spartans coaches, to pick his brains about potential candidates. "As soon as Nate Oats came up, he was like, `Hey, that guy's a grinder,' I think was his first words to me." Oats said he attended "hundreds" of Michigan State practices as a small-college assistant in Wisconsin and a high school coach in suburban Detroit. Plus, he attended game day shootarounds and walk-throughs at hotels on the road. "As much as they would let me be involved in, that's how much I was involved at Michigan State," Oats said. "I had that much respect for what Tom Izzo did. I never worked for him, but he was great to me. He speaks really highly of coach Saban." Oats does, too. He said he has gone through every book, podcast and article he can find on Saban, who has won five national titles at Alabama and one at LSU. "I'm a huge football fan," Oats said. "I'm a basketball junkie, but I'm a huge football fan." Saban attended the introductory news conference but left without taking questions. Oats plans to bring in Buffalo assistant Bryan Hodgson but said he believes both Hodgson and Jim Whitesell, who is the interim coach, will interview for the chance to succeed him. As for Oats, he didn't necessarily promise a quick turnaround but believes Alabama has the resources to go deeper in the NCAA tournament than it has before. Wimp Sanderson, who led the Tide to the Sweet 16 six times from 1982-91, was on hand for Oats' introduction. "They've never been to a Final Four here," Oats said, "but we can get to a Final Four."