2. Nate Oats (Alabama)
Think for a second and imagine the SEC before Florida’s breakthrough success this season. We didn’t realize that 14 of the 16 programs would make the NCAA Tournament, but we knew that Alabama was an evolved program in recent years. Oats is the reason for the Crimson Tide’s own breakthrough and you can almost call him the most influential coach in program history already after just five seasons.
Oats worked at small colleges in Wisconsin before cutting his teeth at the high school level outside Detroit. He joined Bobby Hurley’s Buffalo staff and would outshine him as the Bulls’ head coach, taking that program to a pair of NCAA Tournament wins. Alabama brought Oats aboard in 2019 and are thankful each day for that decision. The Crimson Tide won a pair of SEC titles with a pair of Sweet Sixteen’s in his first four seasons before marching to the Final Four in year five. Oats followed that up with an Elite Eight run this season.
Alabama has quickly turned into a program that matters in college basketball. After years as an afterthought, the Crimson Tide have suddenly been to at least the second weekend of the Big Dance in four of the last five Tournaments. Oats is bringing great talent to Tuscaloosa using both freshmen and the portal and shows no signs of slowing down. Among the rising names in the college basketball world Oats might be on top of that list for what his first decade as a head coach has seen him accomplish. Is that first national title coming sooner than we think?