While a formal contract extension hasn't been announced, Nate Oats isn't going anywhere. Even in the aftermath of North Carolina swinging and missing at Arizona's Tommy Lloyd, forcing them to move further down their coaching board, Oats has reiterated he plans to be at Alabama for the long haul.
Late last week, a social media post by Greg Byrne had Tide fans stirring. Byrne's post was a photo of him and Oats with the caption of "he's not going anywhere." But six days have passed since that post and no news has broken of an Oats contract extension.
But any worry Alabama fans might have had can be put to rest based on Oats' comments on Friday while talking with Jeff Goodman and The Field of 68 team in Indianapolis ahead of the Final Four.
"We've got enough of something in place that I'll be there, correct, yes," Oats said about his future at Alabama and his contract situation.
Oats reiterated how much he loved Alabama and how much he wants to deliver the program's first national title. He knows he can get there, but he also knows that a change in roster-building, along with a little bit more money, is necessary to get the Crimson Tide over the hump.
"We're trending the right direction. ... We're gonna try to pour more resources into what we need to try to -- I'd like to be the first one to win a national championship [at Alabama]. Now, you got to catch a lot of breaks. We're trending in the right direction. We weren't good enough this year."
Nate Oats admits Alabama wasn't good enough this year, and explains what will be needed to take the next step
Oats is always candid. He's not afraid to speak his mind, which sometimes gets him in hot water in the court of public opinion and with journalists looking for a "gotcha" moment.
He's raised the bar so significantly at Alabama that simply making the Sweet 16 almost feels disappointing. He was certainly disappointed that the Crimson Tide capped out there. He certainly thought this team's ceiling was higher than it was.
It came down to one simple reality that Oats couldn't help but accept: Alabama wasn't big enough. There wasn't enough size around Aiden Sherrell in the frontcourt, which is something Oats is going to do his best to mitigate this offseason in the Transfer Portal:
"Ideally, we’re gonna have to find bigs who can guard on the other end but can still play a five-out, NBA offense on the other end with the rules. We’ve got to adjust a little bit. We got to figure it out. We’ve been able to win at this level, but we’re trying to get back to the Final Four. We’ve got to be able to guard these teams.
"We played Michigan. We played Arizona. We weren’t big enough in the front court to guard them well enough.
Expect Alabama to be active in the Transfer Portal. But this portal cycle will be put up or shut up time for Byrne and the administration to prove to Oats they are willing to spend in order to put together a team capable of winning the National Championship.