Alabama locks down Nate Oats, makes him one of highest-paid coaches

Alabama has agreed to a contract extension with men's basketball coach Nate Oats that will make him one of the five highest-paid coaches in the sport, Alabama athletic director Greg Byrne announced Sunday via X.

"Appropriate members of The Board of Trustees have been notified of the proposed terms of the new agreement and it will soon be formally approved through the Board process," Byrne wrote in a statement.

"We are good! He's not going anywhere," Byrne wrote on his personal X account.

This is the third contract extension in four years for Oats, whose previous extension in early 2024 ran through March 2030 and was scheduled to pay him $6.02 million for the 2026-27 season.

Complete details on the new contract have yet to be announced but, according to USA Today, the five highest-paid coaches at public schools in 2024-25 each made at least $6.1 million -- when Oats tied for ninth nationally with a $5 million base salary.

Oats' impending raise should put him in the same neighborhood with Kansas' Bill Self, Arkansas' John Calipari, UConn's Dan Hurley, Michigan State's Tom Izzo and Arizona's Tommy Lloyd. On Friday, Arizona announced a new five-year deal with Lloyd that starts at $7.2 million, presumably to keep the national Naismith Coach of the Year from leaving for the open North Carolina job.

Alabama's rationale for a new deal could have been driven by the same fear.

"As long as we're able to compete to win championships here -- SEC, national championships. We haven't done that here yet -- I'd love to be the coach to bring us our first national championship," Oats said March 26 when asked about potential links to the North Carolina head coaching vacancy.

"To me, there's absolutely no reason to leave here. While it's flattering that a high school guy that caught a couple of breaks would be mentioned with some of these jobs, because they've got a lot of tradition, I'm not a guy that's looking to get out of here any time soon."

Oats, 51, has been the head coach at Alabama since 2019 and has compiled a 170-73 record (.700) in his seven seasons. The Crimson Tide have competed in a program record-tying six straight NCAA Tournaments.

This season Alabama lost to Michigan, who will play for the National Championship on Monday, in the Sweet Sixteen.

Oats' deepest run was when he helped lead Alabama to the Final Four as a No. 4 seed during the 2023-24 season. The Crimson Tide fell short to eventual champion UConn.

Oats has led Alabama to at least two NCAA Tournament wins in all but one of his six appearances with the school.

--Field Level Media