Nate Oats leaves Buffalo to take over as Alabama coach

The Alabama Crimson Tide have a new head basketball coach.

Alabama has hired Buffalo’s Nate Oats to replace the fired Avery Johnson, the school confirmed on Wednesday.

Thrilled to welcome @nate_oats to @AlabamaMBB! #RollTide pic.twitter.com/vo8YRUXPg3

— Greg Byrne (@Greg_Byrne) March 27, 2019

Oats is a very good hire for Alabama. He built Buffalo into a mid-major powerhouse, reaching the Round of 32 in back-to-back seasons and going 32-4 with the Bulls this season. Overall, he went 97-43 over the course of four years at the school.

Alabama has a rebuild ahead of it. Under Johnson, the school often hovered just above the .500 mark, and only made one NCAA Tournament appearance. He arrived with a lot of ambition, but it didn’t really translate to results. The challenge for Oats will be to change that.