Nate Oats on Alabama Basketball's Roster: 'We Don’t Really Have Too Many Holes'

The head coach explained his decision not to fill the Crimson Tide's 13th scholarship spot.

Last week, Nate Oats made news when he announced that Alabama basketball is unlikely to fill its 13th scholarship for the coming season. During an appearance on The Next Round on Wednesday, the head coach explained that decision, stating that he’s happy with where the Crimson Tide’s roster stands at the moment.

“The strategy is, there’s nobody out there good enough that we want,” Oats said. “We’re not just going to burn it up on somebody just to burn it up."

Alabama returns five players from last season’s team in forwards Charles Bediako, Noah Gurley and Darius Miles as well as guards Nimari Burnett and Jahvon Quinerly. 

The Crimson Tide added a pair of transfer guards in Ohio’s Mark Sears and St. Bonaventure’s Dom Welch. Alabama also brought in a five-man signing class featuring four SI99 members in small forward Brandon Miller, point guard Jaden Bradley, forward Noah Clowney and shooting guard Rylan Griffen as well as highly-rated JUCO forward Nick Pringle.

While Oats said there are players Alabama could have added to fill out its roster, he believes no one currently in the portal would crack the rotation over among his current bunch.

“I don’t want to bring a kid in here that’s a transfer, that’s expecting to play significant minutes, and we just can't give them the minutes,” Oats said. “When you go through our roster, we don’t really have too many holes. Now I’m not saying that means we’re going to win X number of games or all that, but we’re not missing any one position like drastically with a huge hole there.

“Unless they were just that good to really move the needle a lot, I’m not going to screw a kid, bring him in here, play him five minutes a game. I just don’t think it’s right to do that to a kid just to have security in your roster in all spots.”

Oats was also asked about both of his transfer additions, stating that both Sears and Welch offer plenty of experience while also fitting into Alabama’s system. He believes the duo will develop into key pieces in this year’s roster.

Sears, a junior, has started 40 games over his college career. The Muscle Shoals, Ala., native is coming off a sophomore season in which he averaged 19.7 points, 6.0 rebounds and 4.1 assists per contest on his way to being named a finalist for the 2022 Lou Henson Award, which is presented annually to the top mid-major player in the nation.

“I didn’t think we had enough point-guard-type play last year,” Oats said. “We really only had two guys with Quinerly and J.D. [Davison]. And Quinerly gets hurt in the last game against Notre Dame, it really forces J.D. to play the whole game. Just with the way we play, we’re better off with multiple point-guard types, multiple playmakers, creators.

“I think Sears is a guy that can really shoot. He shot 42% from 3 at Ohio. He’s played significant minutes. He’s one of the best, if not the best, player in that league, and that’s a good league. I came from that league. And he’s a kid from Alabama that really wants to be on the Alabama team. We want guys — if they’re good enough and they want to be at Alabama, we’re going to bring them here.”

Welch, a graduate student, has started 105 games for St. Bonaventure over the past four years. Last season, he averaged 12.3 points on 6.0 rebounds while shooting 41.4 percent from the floor and 37.4 percent from beyond the arc.

Welch, a native of Buffalo, N.Y., is someone Oats has been familiar with for several years. The former Buffalo head coach said Wednesday that he still remembers attending a high school game where Welch dropped 45 points on his opponent.

“He’s a wing with size who can make shots,” Oats said. “In the three years I’ve been here at Alabama, we’ve been first, third and sixth in 3s taken per game, so we’re going to take a lot of 3s. This year we were 303rd in 3-point percantage. So if you’re going to be top five in the country in 3s taken per game, let’s get somebody that can make some shots from 3.” 

Alabama basketball's incoming players

No. 0 — Jaden Bradley

Quote from Oats: “Jaden is the No. 1 point guard in the nation, and it was huge for us that we got his commitment first. There are a lot of other good players who want to play with an unselfish, pass-first point guard like Jaden. We think he is next in the line of great point guards since we’ve been here at Alabama following in Kira Lewis Jr., Jahvon Quinerly and JD Davison’s footsteps. Jaden is a proven winner and that is something that is important to us during recruiting, not just getting talented players. He comes from a great family and we are really excited to have him a part of our program for numerous reasons.”

No. 1 — Mark Sears

Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports

Quote from Oats: “We are excited to welcome Mark and his family to the Alabama basketball program. Our entire staff felt like Mark was one of the best overall guards available in the transfer portal, so we really went after him hard. He is a high character kid with great basketball feel who is a perfect fit for the way we want to play. He shoots the ball really well, he’s a great decision-maker and is terrific in transition. On top of that, Mark is an Alabama kid who is excited to come back to his home state and play in front of family and friends. I think our fans will have a lot of fun watching him next season and he is a big addition for us.”

No. 3 — Rylan Griffen

Rylan Griffen's Twitter account, @GriffenRylan

Quote from Oats: “Rylan is a very talented scoring guard. We feel he has a high ceiling and by playing in our system he will be able to maximize his potential. We like long, athletic shooters like Rylan who has proved he has the ability to score at a high clip this last summer. He is also a proven winner coming from Richardson High School, a program that consistently wins at a high level and is considered one of the top teams in Texas this year.”

No. 10 — Dominick Welch

Photo | Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

Quote from Oats: “Dom is originally from Buffalo, so we were able to make an immediate connection. He is also someone who is going to come in and earn his playing time. He's a four-year starter and has had a lot of success both from a team and an individual standpoint. He has impacted winning in a big way, helping St. Bonaventure to 76 wins in the last four years which shows that he cares about doing what needs to be done to help his team win.

“Combine all those factors with the fact that Dom is a terrific young man off the court, we feel he is the perfect fit for what our program needed."

No. 15 — Noah Clowney

Photo | JOSH MORGAN/The Greenville News / USA TODAY NETWORK

Quote from Oats: “Noah is a skilled big with size and the ability to stretch the floor with his shooting. He is a great athlete with a lot of upside. He plays for one of the top programs in the state of South Carolina and we place a lot of value on that. Noah is going to be a good fit in our system. He has the ability to play inside-outside, take guys off the dribble and can play with his back to the basket.”

No. 23 — Nick Pringle

Nick Pringle's Twitter account, @iNickPringle

Quote from Oats: “We are very excited to sign such an athletic and skilled big man like Nick. He already has college experience both at the D-I and junior college levels. We have a history of success with junior college players here, particularly finding ones who may have flown under the radar, similar to James Rojas and Keon Ellis. We think he gives us a different dimension in the frontcourt. He may be the most versatile and athletic forward in all of junior college basketball right now. We are looking forward to adding an experienced frontcourt player to the roster next season.”

No. 24 — Brandon Miller

Quote from Oats: “Brandon is a very talented and versatile player. I don’t think you can put a position on him and we feel he is one of the best pro prospects in the entire class. We are really excited to get him in our system and see what he can do. He is a 6-9 basketball player that can do everything. We’ve recruited him for a long time and have gotten to know him and his family well. We are beyond excited to get a player of his caliber in our program.”