Alabama HC Nate Oats brags about team’s lineup flexibility for 2024 college basketball season

Nate Oats' Alabama Crimson Tide will enter the 2024-25 season as one of the favorite contenders. The program went on its best-ever NCAA run last year and will have available all-league players Grant Nelson and Latrell Wrightsell for another year. Moreover, veteran Mark Sears and Jarin Stevenson rejoined the program after withdrawing early from their 2024 NBA draft candidacy.

When Nate Oats was asked recently about his current roster by Seth Davis for Bleacher Reports, the coach couldn't stop praising his young crew:

"Aden Holloway is playing great right now. Labaron Philon is playing really well. Marks Sears obviously will probably be First Team All-American. Chris Youngblood was American Player of the Year. Houston Malette's been injured and hasn't been able to play yet, but Latrell Wrightsell was the fourth-most efficient player in the country last year," Oats said.

After highlighting a few instances from last year, Oats then dived into the defensive abilities of his players and potential rotations he can deploy:

"The way we play, I mean you literally could put five guys that all pass, dribble and shoot out there," Oats said. "...We could put a big lineup out there, and we could put four guards out there, ... so we can go a lot of different ways, and depending game to game, it may fluctuate, good thing for us is I think our guys are all competing and making each other better.

"I don't think we've got any real selfish guys on the team, which is what we're gonna have to have, to try to do what we're trying to do this year," he added.

Due to the return of star power and transfer portal acquires, this year’s Crimson Tide might have the best chance to lift the NCAA trophy. Moreover, like the previous renditions of Oats’ crew, this one is filled with complimenting shooters too.

Nate Oats questions NCAA's rules in light of player development

For the second consecutive year, the top pick in the NBA draft was held by a European player. Nate Oats believes that a lot of that has to do with the lack of practice restriction on young players outside the USA and highlights the NCAA's rule that gives coaches only 20 hours a week (four hours per day) with their players:

"There is no restrictions in Europe, the coach that they sign up to play for, that are responsible for their development, are not being told they can only work with them for four hours a week," Oats said in the same interview.

"So, the way the system is here in US, you got from highschool to college, we're responsible for their development before they go to the NBA because you can't leave high school to go to the NBA. So, when we are told we are only allowed four hours, to me that is restrictive on player development," he added.

Notably, the regulated hours include on-court practices, scrimmages, chalk talk, supervised weight training, tryouts and even competition games. Oats claimed that the supervision prevents coaches and staff from fully spearheading player developmental programs and preparing them for the NBA.

Moreover, he addressed the reasons behind the strict limitations, claiming that coaches could overwork players in the absence of the regulations. Nevertheless, he believes that coaches would not risk such practices as the authorities would ultimately learn about such instances.