Alabama AD Greg Byrne hints at Nate Oats contract extension news
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Alabama athletic director Greg Byrne has made it no secret — he wants basketball coach Nate Oats sticking around Tuscaloosa for a very long time.
The Crimson Tide’s dreams of a trip to the Final Four were dashed on Friday night with a 90-77 loss to Michigan in the Midwest Region semifinal in Chicago. But Oats led Alabama to its fourth straight trip to the Sweet 16, and he has Alabama basketball going strong as a perennial contender in the SEC and nationally.
Alabama finished second in the SEC during the regular season and won 25 games during yet another banner campaign under Oats, who took over the program in 2019 and has gone a stellar 170-73 overall and 87-38 in conference play. Those numbers, the slew of trips to the Sweet 16 and that first and only Final Four in 2024 have Byrne on a mission to keep Oats in Tuscaloosa long term.
Byrne told On3’s BamaOnLine on Friday that Alabama is working hard to extend Oats’ current contract, locking him up to keep the good times rolling for Alabama basketball under the 51-year-old Wisconsin native.
Then came Saturday night and a post on Byrne’s social media that seemed to indicate things were moving in a very positive direction regarding Oats staying put in T-Town. Byrne posted a picture of himself and Oats, arm in arm, writing in the headline above the post: “We are good! He’s not going anywhere!”
The days ahead will tell us where those contract negotiations are going between Alabama and Oats, but if Saturday night is any indication, Byrne has a firm grip on Oats’ coaching future — literally.
Alabama’s dream of heading to its second Final Four in 3 years ended on Friday night with a loss to Michigan, but there are still 7 teams left standing with a shot to head to Indianapolis. Here is what the Kalshi market currently sees regarding the odds for those 7 teams to get to Indy next week:
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
