Are you a Nate Oats trivia buff? Could you crush the “Ball & Oats” category on the game show Jeopardy!? Do you regularly talk All Things Nate Oats while at the coffee shop or in the barber’s chair? Well, this article is for you.
Oats, the former high school math teacher who was once bringing home $42,000 per year, is now knocking down a $4.5 million salary as the head men’s basketball coach at Alabama (that’s 107 times as much as his high school gig, if you’re doing the math). Last year, he led the team to its first Final Four appearance in program history, and now the Tide is ranked fifth in the country with an 11-2 record heading into conference play on Saturday.
Things just can’t get much better on the hardwood for Nathanael Justin Oats. Even still, here are some things you might not know about the Bama hoops guru:
10. Bull Busters. When serving as the head coach for the University of Buffalo Bulls during the 2017-18 season, Oats guided his team to an 89-68 NCAA tournament win over Pac-12 champion and No. 4 seed Arizona at Taco Bell Arena in Boise, ID. It was Buffalo’s first NCAA tournament win in program history.
9. Taking a Page from Wimp. Oats, who wears custom sport jackets on the sidelines, once borrowed one of the plaid variety from former Alabama basketball icon and head coach Wimp Sanderson. The occasion was the team’s “Midnight Madness” season-opening event in 2019.
8. A Fundraising Machine. According to Yahoo! Sports, when Oats was a math teacher at Romulus High School in Romulus, Michigan, (smack dab between Ann Arbor and Detroit), he once sold Capri Suns, Flamin’ Hot Cheetos, and Pop-Tarts out of his office to raise money for his basketball program. The effort was branded “Nate’s Party Store.”
7. Maranatha Theology. Oats’ dad, Dr. Larry Oats, is a theology professor at Maranatha Baptist in Waterton, Wisconsin, and once served as dean of the school’s seminary. Larry’s son has even ministered in prisons and once told Sports Spectrum magazine about his own coming to faith: “At 16 years old, my sophomore year at high school, I really came face-to-face with God, really chose to dedicate my life to God, accepted him as my savior at that time. There’s a genuine peace that comes about you when you do that. … When I was 16, God definitely changed my life.”
6. We talkin’ practice. When it comes to learning about the game of basketball, Oats is an absolute sponge. Once, while the head coach at Romulus, Oats and his former teammate, Josh Baker, traveled all over the country watching practice, learning as much as they can about the game of basketball, scouting some of the great coaches of the game. Included in the tour was a peek at Tom Izzo’s practice at Michigan State, Vance Walberg’s at Pepperdine, Scott Stiles’ with the Chicago Bulls, and Hubie Brown’s with the Memphis Grizzlies.
5. Friday Night (and Saturday Night) Oats. Oats was a two-sport athlete at Maranatha Academy in Waterton and played wide receiver on the school’s football team. He also played football in college for two seasons at Maranatha Baptist University. He played basketball in college, too, and that’s the sport that eventually won out. The rest, they say, is history.
4. D-1 Caliber. Oats coached at Romulus for 11 seasons, bringing home a state title in 2012-13. Eighteen of Oats’ players at Romulus went on to play Division I basketball, including Wes Clark, E.C. Matthews, and Christian Pino.
3. Connection to the Hurley Boys. Matthews, a 6’5” guard who played for Oats at Romulus, played for current UConn head coach Dan Hurley when he was the head coach at Rhode Island. While recruiting Matthews, Dan and his older brother, Bobby, attended several of Oats’ practices at Romulus. “That was the thing I noticed about Nate when we recruited E.C. was like this guy’s wired different, number one. Different level of energy about him. Just the way he shows up when you meet him. Then just the way he ran his program,” Dan once told Arizona Sports.
Later, Oats served as an assistant under Bobby at the University of Buffalo.
And oh, the irony! When Alabama made its first-ever trip to the Final Four in 2023-24, whose team did it face? That’s right. Dan Hurley’s UConn Huskies.
2. A Little Bessemer Snapper. After Oats became the head coach at Alabama, one of his first restaurant stops was to The Bright Star in Bessemer, where he feasted on the snapper throats. “If you haven’t been to the Bright Star and had their snapper throats, you’ve got to go. ‘Cause they’re unbelievable,” Oats told al.com.
1. Driving a Beamer. Oats once did a spot for Towne BMW (now BMW of Buffalo) in Williamsville, NY, promoting the 750i sedan. Here’s a link to the video:
And there you have it, folks. Your proverbial Nate Oats sampler platter. Ten facts you might not have known about him and his remarkable success story.
If that’s not enough, you can always watch Coach Oats in action today at 5 p.m. as the No. 5 Crimson Tide (11-2) hosts the No. 12 Oklahoma Sooners (13-0) from Coleman Coliseum in Tuscaloosa.
And while you’re at it, enjoy the game with some Flamin’ Hot Cheetos. TG
