How Arkansas State's Ryan Pannone Differs From Other Past Alabama Assistants

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Nate Oats is set to face a familiar name on Friday against Arkansas State.

Red Wolves head coach Ryan Pannone arrived at Arkansas State last season, filling the role of Bryan Hodgson — another member of Oats' coaching tree — who took the South Florida job. Hodgson is now in his first year as Providence's head coach.

Pannone became the fifth Alabama assistant under Oats to leave for a head coaching job, joining Hodgson, Antoine Pettway (Kennesaw State), Austin Claunch (UTSA) and Charlie Henry (Georgia Southern). Pannone was at UA during the 2023-24 and 2024-25 seasons.

"I think what separates Ryan from a lot of other guys in the profession is the amount of time he puts into his craft," Oats said during Thursday's press conference. "I've had really good coaches. I've got guys that work really hard. Got guys that work really hard right now. I mean, coach (Brian) Adams on the defensive side is watching a lot of video. But like, even before I met Ryan, he sent me video edits, and that's kind of how I got to the point of building the relationship with him before I hired him.

"I knew of him. He took the G League job for the Pelicans, and it was in Birmingham. Went up there, started to build the relationship. I mean, he works extremely hard. He watches more video than probably anybody I know. He's got a lot of experience all over the world. He's been in Europe, Asia, coaching G League. He's climbed his way up, I mean, he had to work.

"So I think he's very creative offensively. Very smart. Studies all the latest stuff, whether it's coming from Europe, Australia, Asia, wherever. He studies anything anywhere. He's been in the NBA. Studies the NBA. So I think they're going to be creative offensively. They got great spacing. They play fast. So he does a good job putting a modern-style basketball in while studying a lot of video."

Alabama's offense under Pannone's leadership created success that this program had never truly seen. In 2023-24, the Crimson Tide made its first-ever Final Four appearance, and the following year, Alabama advanced to the Elite Eight round of the NCAA Tournament — becoming the only school in the country to reach the Elite Eight in back-to-back seasons.

Alabama led the country in points per game during both years of Pannone's tenure. The Tide also had the most possessions per game this past season, giving it the title of the fastest-paced program in college basketball.

The aforementioned Bryan Hodgson was an assistant under Oats at Buffalo (2015-19) and UA (2019-23), with his first head coaching job coming at Arkansas State from 2023-25. The Red Wolves had won at least 20 games just once in a season this century before Hodgson arrived, but he accomplished this feat in both of his years there.

Pannone continued the Red Wolves' streak of 20-plus wins last season, with Arkansas State going 20-12. Arkansas State was picked to win the Sun Belt Conference this year.

Oats has faced three former assistants, including Bryan Hodgson twice, and holds a 4-0 record against them.

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