📡 Nate Oats among semifinalists for Naismith coach of the year - AL.com

[Bama News]

Nate Oats among semifinalists for Naismith coach of the year

No Alabama coach has ever won the award.

www.al.com

Alabama men’s basketball coach Nate Oats was named Friday as one of 10 national semifinalists for the Naismith coach of the year award.

No Alabama coach has ever won the award, which is given by the Atlanta Tipoff Club and is one of a handful of major postseason coach of the year honors.

The four finalists will be announced March 17 and the winner will be named April 4.

“He puts the work in, so he deserves everything that’s coming his way,” guard Jahvon Quinerly said Friday of Oats. “He puts guys in the right positions. He’s just an overall great coach. The minute he walked in, he helped change the culture around here.”

Alabama forward Herb Jones is also a semifinalist for the Naismith player of the year trophy as well as the defensive player of the year award.

“It means a lot,” Jones said. “Especially dealing with injuries in the past and now being named one of the semifinalists for the Naismith award as player of the year, it means a whole lot. But I couldn’t have done any of it without the team. They helped me improve my offensive game, my defensive skills.

“Everything is better when we win, so that’s just a credit to my teammates. I’m not not the only person out there scoring the points or getting stops. It’s a collective unit and everybody contributes.”

The SEC is expected to name its coach of the year and player of the year ahead of the conference tournament next week, with Oats and Jones among those in the running for both awards.

“I feel like he deserves everything that’s coming his way,” Jones said Friday of Oats. “He loves the game. He loves getting guys better, helping guys reach their dreams. I feel like really knows how to expose your strengths on the court. I feel like that’s what makes him a great coach -- he puts certain guys in great situations to do what they do best, and I feel like he’s one of the best to do it in the business.”

Oats previously earned coach of the year honors in the Mid-American Conference in both 2018 and 2019.

 

[18Champs]

Will he get SEC COY is more of a question to me.

 

[rick4bama]

Best of Luck!