University of Alabama director of Athletics Greg Byrne on Thursday announced that head men’s basketball Nate Oats and the university have agreed to a significant raise and contract extension.
The new agreement will extend his current contract by three seasons to six total years, keeping him in charge of the rising Crimson Tide basketball program through March 14, 2027.
His base salary and talent fee will increase to $3.225 million annually; Oats is currently earning a total of $2.462 million per year.
While appropriate members of the University of Alabama System board of trustees have been notified of the proposed terms and conditions of the contract extension, the financial terms remain subject to the approval by the board of trustees. This is considered a formality.
“We are excited to agree to a contract extension with The University of Alabama,” Oats said in a statement. “Crystal and our daughters love it here, and we are committed to The University of Alabama. We feel like we have a lot of positive momentum going with our team and have the program headed in the right direction.”
“Our administration is making a major statement with this extension as we all work on building a successful program for the long term. I know the winning history we’ve had with Alabama basketball, and I feel like we can add to that and accomplish great things here,” he continued. “We appreciate the opportunity Greg Byrne and our athletics administration, President Stuart Bell, Chancellor St. John and The Board of Trustees have provided us. This is really a reflection of the outstanding job that our players, coaches and basketball staff have done the last two years. Now we need all of our focus to be on finishing this season the right way and giving our team the best chance to succeed down the stretch.”
Only in his second season at the helm of the Bama program, Oats has guided Alabama to a 17-5 overall record so far this season — including a dominant 12-1 mark in SEC play. The Tide is currently ranked No. 8 in the latest Associated Press poll. Projected as a No. 2 seed in this year’s NCAA Tournament, which would match the highest seed in program history, UA is just two wins away from clinching the program’s first regular season conference title in 19 years.
Prior to coming to Alabama, Oats spent four seasons (2015-19) at the University at Buffalo where he led the Bulls to a 96-43 (.691) record, three MAC Tournament Championships and three NCAA Tournament appearances. He was named the league’s Coach of the Year and National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) District 14 Coach of the Year in back-to-back seasons (2018 and 2019) and finished fourth in the voting for the 2019 Associated Press Men’s College Coach of the Year.
“We are thrilled to be able to announce a contract extension with our head men’s basketball coach Nate Oats,” stated Byrne. “We had great expectations when we hired Coach Oats. He has exceeded those expectations, and we want to ensure he is compensated among the top half of the SEC. We have put buyout measures in place that show the long-term commitment between both parties. Coach Oats and his staff have built a comprehensive program that has maximized our student-athlete’s experience, significantly increased interest in Alabama Basketball with future recruits and put forward a product that has excited our fan base. Nate, Crystal and the Oats family have embraced our community and state and, in turn, our fans have embraced them. A special thanks goes to President Bell, Chancellor St. John and our Board of Trustees for their support in helping to get this extension done.”
Dr. Stuart Bell, president of the University of Alabama, added, “We are very proud of what our men’s basketball program has accomplished in just a short period of time under Coach Oats’ leadership.”
“His emphasis on effort, continuous growth and selflessness has helped our student-athletes excel on the court, in the classroom and in the community,” Bell concluded. “He has embraced the standard of excellence at The University of Alabama, and we are excited he will continue to lead our program for years to come.”
Sean Ross is the editor of Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @sean_yhn
