Nate Oats calls on Alabama fans to create raucous atmosphere for Arkansas game
By David Wasson
Published:
The No. 25 Alabama basketball team faces a stiff challenge Wednesday night at home against No. 20 Arkansas (7 p.m. ET, ESPN) – one that Crimson Tide coach Nate Oats hopes becomes a bit easier with a raucous home crowd on hand at Coleman Coliseum.
“I want to shout-out to our crowd, our student section, to make sure for sure every Top 25 team coming into Coleman that it is packed and ready to go,” Oats said in a promotional message sent out by the program’s X account. “Winning this game will go a long ways if we are going to be a Top 4 seed (in the SEC Tournament), so we need to make sure the crowd’s out and is ready to roll to make sure our team is up and the best it can be.”
Here’s video of Oats’ comments, shared by Alabama basketball on Wednesday:
Alabama enters Wednesday’s contest with an 18-7 overall record and sits in a tie for third in the SEC standings at 8-4 – one game behind Arkansas (19-6, 9-3) both overall and in the conference.
Per the latest odds from Kalshi, Alabama is the favorite to win on Wednesday night in Tuscaloosa:
The Crimson Tide has won four straight, including an 89-75 thumping of South Carolina on Saturday. Labaron Philon Jr. leads Alabama with 21.3 points and 4.9 assists per game. Arkansas gets 21.2 points and 6.3 assists per outing from guard Darius Acuff Jr. The Razorbacks have won three straight, including an 88-75 victory over Auburn on Saturday.
An APSE national award-winning writer and editor, David Wasson has almost four decades of experience in the print journalism business in Florida and Alabama. His work has also appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times and several national magazines and websites. His Twitter handle: @JustDWasson.
