Alabama Basketball: Does Nate Oats have an NBA plan?

What Nate Oats has done with the Alabama Basketball program is extraordinary. To Alabama Crimson Tide fans, Wimp Sanderson is legendary. In Wimp’s 12 seasons as the Crimson Tide’s head coach, Alabama won five SEC Tournaments, one SEC Regular Season Championship and competed in 10 NCAA Tournaments. In a seven-season period, Wimp’s teams made the Sweet 16, five times.

It should be noted Sanderson inherited a program that he and C.M. Newton built, from pathetically bad, to a program that won three SEC Regular Season Championships and came within two minutes of beating one of college basketball’s best teams ever, in 1976.

The Crimson Tide had some good seasons under Mark Gottfried. But Mark Gottfried’s last three seasons and the 10 that followed under Anthony Grant and Avery Johnson yielded Alabama just two trips to the Big Dance, both ending in second-round defeats.

The point being Alabama had success before Sanderson became the head coach. Nate Oats started in Tuscaloosa with a much steeper climb.

In four seasons of rapid progress, Nate Oats has the Alabama Basketball program at the threshold of becoming elite. The expectations of Alabama basketball fans have never been higher. Next season anything short of making the NCAA Tournament Elite Eight will be deemed a failure. Another SEC ‘Double’ if achieved, will not be enough for Crimson Tide fans.

Nate Oats does not shrink from high expectations. His goal will be for the 2023-24 team to be the Crimson Tide’s best ever.

It will be quite difficult. So far, confirmed roster losses are Brandon Miller to the NBA and Nimari Burnett to Michigan. There is little doubt Noah Clowney will follow Miller to the NBA. Jahvon Quinerly and Charles Bediako have decided to test the NBA Draft waters.

Quinerly and Bediako are making sound decisions. They can get NBA evaluations of their games, along with NBA Draft probabilities. After gaining valuable feedback. both of them could choose another season with the Crimson Tide. Their gain would be learning what areas need the most improvement to succeed as professionals.

If Quinerly and Bediako choose to do so, a final decision can come as late as May 31.

What Alabama Basketball and Nate Oats face

Currently, Nate Oats has four players expected to return for the 2023-24 season. They are Mark Sears, Rylan Griffen, Jaden Bradley and Nick Pringle. The key word is ‘currently’ because three of the four will be pursued by other programs offering more guaranteed minutes. Mark Sears might also dip his toe into NBA evaluations.

The Crimson Tide has five new players for next season. Three are signed; Mouhamed Dioubate, Sam Walters and Davin Cosby (coming off a redshirt). Another, Kris Parker is a verbal commit. Transfer Jaykwon Walton is expected to play next season, but he will need either a waiver or an undergraduate degree to be eligible in 2023-24.

From the names listed above, the Alabama 2023-23 roster is nine players, not counting, Quinerly and Bediako. Alabama has at least two open roster slots. Given the situation with Quinerly and Bediako, must Oats make the two additions a point guard and a center? Or, needing an improvement in 3pt shooting next season, will Oats opt for a combo guard that is a proven three-point maker? Because of so many variables, the task for Nate Oats is difficult. Fortunately, many proven transfer options are interested in the Crimson Tide.

Check-in with Bama Hammer often as we update the roster status for the 2023-24 Alabama Crimson Tide.