NCAA Basketball Recruiting: Ranking 7 finalists for 2020 F Earl Timberlake

MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA - APRIL 08: A general view in the first half between the Virginia Cavaliers and the Texas Tech Red Raiders during the 2019 NCAA men's Final Four National Championship game at U.S. Bank Stadium on April 08, 2019 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images) /

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TULSA, OKLAHOMA – MARCH 24: Head coach Nate Oats of the Buffalo Bulls complains to the referee during the second half of the second round game of the 2019 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament against the Texas Tech Red Raiders at BOK Center on March 24, 2019 in Tulsa, Oklahoma. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images) /

3. Alabama

When you think of The University of Alabama, you think of football and rightfully so and when you think of coaches at Alabama, you think of Nick Saban. That is something that will likely never change, but new Alabama basketball head coach, Nate Oats is trying to reach that level.

After struggling in 2017-18 as the failed to make the NCAA Tournament and were bounced as a one seed in the first round of the NIT, Alabama parted ways with head coach Avery Johnson and brought in former University of Buffalo head coach, Nate Oats.

Oats along with assistant coach, Bryan Hodgson who followed Oats to Alabama, have a solid squad heading into the 2019-20 season. Not only does the Crimson Tide appear to have a decent squad going into next season, but Oats is expecting big things.

"“I’m not one to oversell or under-deliver,” Oats said. “I’m not making huge promises, but I’m going to say this. The football program set the standard of excellence around here, at the highest possible level you can set for anything. We’re going to work our tails off, every day, to get this thing rolling in that direction.” via BuffaloNews.com"

Oats is coming from a Buffalo program in which he brought to three conference regular season championships, four conference tournament championships, four NCAA Tournament appearances and two Round of 32 appearances in his five season as head coach in Buffalo.

That’s pretty incredible when you consider the fact that the Bulls had NEVER won the conference tournament, NEVER made the NCAA Tournament and had only one conference regular season championship before he took over.

This being said, Oats is a proven winner who with the right talent around him, could make a very deep run in the tournament. At Alabama, Oats genuinely believes he can do just that and he has been working hard on the recruiting and transfer fronts bringing in big names such as Jahvon Quinerly, transfer from Villanova.

However, Alabama is a team that has made only one NCAA Tournament since 2013 and they have also had only one player selected in the draft in that time frame. That player was Colin Sexton who was selected eighth overall by the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2018.

With all this in mind, Timberlake will be keeping a keen eye on the Crimson Tide to see how they do in their first year under Nate Oats.

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