Alabama Basketball: Nate Oats’ navigation of the modern era

In the modern era of college basketball, roster management is a full-time job in itself. Developing a roster over the course of three or four years by retaining the same players and building chemistry between them is almost a thing of the past. Roster assembly today is a whole new science, and Alabama Basketball coach Nate Oats has mastered it.

Oats, who was recently rewarded for his efforts with a big pay day, has only been in Tuscaloosa for four years. In the past three seasons, he has put together two of the best Alabama basketball teams in over three decades. Even more impressively, those two teams had almost entirely different rosters. Only senior guard Jahvon Quinerly was a member of both squads.

Over the past couple of decades, college hoops has adjusted to the one-and-done era, which has seen many of college basketball’s top freshmen move on to the pro ranks after just one season.

The introduction of the NCAA transfer portal has dramatically increased roster turnover, as any member of a roster can depart in any given year for a multitude of different reasons. NIL deals and the navigation of player compensation has only further complicated matters.

Oats has masterfully balanced developing multi-year players, finding elite freshmen, and bringing in impact transfers for veteran leadership. This year’s Alabama basketball team is a perfect example, but Oats has done it for several consecutive seasons now in Tuscaloosa.

Alabama Basketball: Assessing Oats’ roster management

The 2020-21 SEC championship team was led by veterans John Petty and Herb Jones, young guard Jaden Shackelford, and transfer guard Jahvon Quinerly. It also got valuable contributions from one-and-done freshman Josh Primo and a slew of experienced reserves.

In 2021-22, Alabama basketball had a disappointing season. Still, the team had a very high ceiling, and few would question that Oats did a good job of constructing the roster. That squad was led by junior guards Shackelford and Quinerly, as well as former JUCO transfer Keon Ellis on the wing. One-and-done guard JD Davison gave Alabama an elite athlete in the backcourt, while fellow freshman center Charles Bediako and transfer forward Noah Gurley were contributors in the frontcourt.

After 2021-22, Alabama basketball lost three of its top four scorers to the NBA Draft in Shackelford, Ellis, and Davison. The only returnee, Jahvon Quinerly, tore his ACL in the NCAA tournament and his status was uncertain. Bama also experienced a transfer portal exodus that included most of its key reserves. Juwan Gary, James Rojas, Jusaun Holt, Keon Ambrose-Hylton, and Alex Tchikou were all promising pieces that decided to abruptly leave Tuscaloosa.

The current season has been Oats’ finest work yet. Alabama’s 2022-23 team returned just 41 percent of its minutes and 41 percent of its scoring from the previous season. When you factor in Jahvon Quinerly’s injury, which has limited his effectiveness all season, as well as the extended and eventually permanent absence of Darius Miles, those numbers are actually much lower.

How did Coach Oats respond? He began by landing one of the best instant-impact recruiting classes of all-time, which is on track to be comparable to the Fab Five or a vintage Calipari Kentucky team. 5-star recruit Brandon Miller has been one of college basketball’s brightest stars, quickly turning himself into a lottery-level talent. Fellow 5-star Jaden Bradley has also been effective, starting 14 games and playing gritty and high-IQ basketball on both ends of the floor.

Even 4-stars Noah Clowney and Rylan Griffen have gone above and beyond expectations. Clowney has started every game he has played in, and possibly turned himself into a one-and-done product. Griffen has been a shot-maker off the bench, and will presumably be a future impact player for the Crimson Tide.

Oats also hit the portal hard in response to losing nearly half his team to transfer decisions. He brought in junior Mark Sears, who has been one of the best guards in the SEC and Alabama’s second-leading scorer.

Unfortunately, transfer Dominick Welch and former transfer Nimari Burnett have battled multiple injuries, and have not been able to fully contribute on the wing. When healthy, Burnett has been one of Bama’s better players.

Lastly, the lone three holdovers from the previous year’s team have made an enormous impact on the current Alabama basketball team. Guard Jahvon Quinerly, forward Noah Gurley, and center Charles Bediako have played big roles despite not taking up many headlines.

This team, which was a random assortment of pieces in the offseason, has meshed quickly and become one of college basketball’s most formidable squads. Nate Oats’ talent for roster management must be commended in this hectic age of constant turnover. Piecing together rosters with freshmen, transfers, and JUCO players will not always work out, as evidenced by the 2021-22 team.

This year, however, Oats has hit a home run.