What Nate Oats said about his 3 Alabama assistant coaches
āI am really excited about the staff we put together,ā Oats said. "I think we have a great combination. Having someone who has been here, knows the area well and has done a great job recruiting at Alabama in Pettway was important. I brought Bryan with me who helped me recruit the roster we had at Buffalo that had us in the top 25 all year. Weāve had a great track record together and he knows what I like, so we work well together. Then we have someone with professional experience at the highest level in Charlie, someone Iāve known for a long time as well. Thereās a great camaraderie amongst the staff in the short time weāve been here. I am a big believer in staff chemistry and I think we get along great. I am excited to work alongside this group of guys.
āAll of these guys are non-ego guys. I donāt want a guy who thinks heās above the program. From the head coach all the way down to the last manager for there to be no ego people. Letās dive in and see what we can do to serve this program. I think all five of these guys are just like that. I anticipate for all of us to get better as we come to Alabama and establish the kind of culture we established at Buffalo.ā
Pettway, the former Alabama guard, has been on staff with the Tide since 2008 and is now working under his fourth different head coach at Alabama.
āIn getting to know Antoine over the past couple of weeks, heās one of the best individuals Iāve ever met,ā Oats said. āHeās got no ego, heās not entitled and heās got great relationships with our guys. I interviewed all the players when I first got here and the feedback I got on him was that he really cares about each of them. He recruited a lot of them and the fact that he helped sign the three guys coming in was big. I talked to a lot of people about him and it was all great. I thought itād be good to have some continuity on staff and I am excited to work with Antoine.ā
Hodgson was part of Oatsā staff during each of Oatsā four seasons as the head coach at Buffalo. Before Buffalo, Hodgson was an assistant at two junior colleges ā Midland College in Texas (2013-15) and Jamestown Community College (2010-13).
āBryan is one of the best recruiters Iāve been around,ā Oats said. āI initially hired him at Buffalo and he quickly proved that was one of the best decisions I made. He was able to get high-level talent and heās got an eye for talent. He knows exactly how we want to play so thereās a chemistry there in terms of knowing who we want to bring in and what type of player we need.ā
Henry was the head coach for the Chicago Bullsā G League team the past two seasons. He was previously an assistant for the Bulls and at Iowa State under Fred Hoiberg. Henryās first coaching job was under Oats at Romulus High School in Michigan in 2009.
āIāve known Charlie for 10-plus years and gave him his first coaching job as my assistant coach at Romulus High School,ā Oats said. āIāve seen him climb the ladder. He works hard and has one of the sharpest minds around. I called him frequently while I was the coach at Buffalo to bounce ideas off him. He was an assistant coach in the NBA and head coach in the G League, so he has the knowledge of NBA concepts, but itās also a big plus that was he in Division I at Iowa State for a few years so he has both sides.ā