Nate Oats Speaks on Michigan Job Opening Following Dusty May's Departure

The college basketball world underwent an earthquake one day before the 2026 NBA Draft, as Michigan head coach Dusty May, who had just won the National Championship, with the Wolverines, was hired for the same position with the Dallas Mavericks.

Chaotic speculation then tipped off as to who would fill his role, and due to his success at Alabama, head coach Nate Oats was brought up by fans as May's potential successor. Oats was asked about the job by ESPN Radio on Thursday evening, even though Michigan made assistant Mike Boynton Jr. the interim head coach,

"I've known [Michigan athletic director] Warde Manuel for a while, but they've got a coach," Oats said. "I'm very happy with where I'm at in Alabama. I've got a pretty hefty buyout for a good reason, because I don't plan on leaving here."

"Hopefully Boynton does really well this year. I think the plan is he's there for the year, at a minimum. I think they're pretty well set going into this year. I think it would be a smart move with the roster they've got together to keep some continuity there. I will not be in maize and blue, if that's what you're asking."

Alabama has been and very much still is on the rise. Oftentimes, coaches at schools not known for basketball leave for bigger programs after successful seasons. However, not only has Oats turned Alabama into a basketball school, but he's not leaving any time soon either.

Oats signed a six-year extension on April 22 that will go through the 2031-32 season. The 51-year-old will have an average annual salary of $7.25 million. His previous deal ran through March 2030 and was set to pay him $6.02 million in 2026-27 and $6.275 million on average. The buyout willd be $15 million through March 2027 and then $12 million through March 2028.

This new deal made him the fourth-highest paid college basketball coach in the country, according to USA Today. Only trailing Kansas' Bill Self ($8.85 million per year), UConn's Dan Hurley ($8 million) and Arkansas' John Calipari ($7.75 million). He's just ahead of Michigan State's Tom Izzo ($7.2 million).

Nevertheless, this is far from the first time Oats' name has been put as a potential successor for a highly touted program. It was a big story when the North Carolina job opened up before the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16.

"Look, a lot of respect to the other programs that may open and they've got great basketball tradition," Oats said of North Carolina on March 26. "As a young high school coach, maybe — shoot, I didn't think I'd even be in this spot to be honest with you that long ago.

"If you've gotten to know me, I'm not a guy that's trying to always jump around. The grass is not always greener. I love Alabama. My girls love Alabama. They're here with me. I love working with the administration that I work with. I think Greg Byrne is the best AD in the country. I love working with him. Would be great if I was able to work with him the rest of my career.

"They're doing everything they can to make sure that we've got a competitive program. And 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. We got to a Final Four. To me there's absolutely no reason to leave here.

"While it's flattering that a high school guy that caught a couple 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 anytime soon. I love it here and my girls love it here. I love working with the people at Alabama.

"Yeah, names are going to get mentioned. I'm probably one of 10 or 12. Like whatever. It is what it is. That's the business. I haven't talked to anybody, nor do I plan on talking to anybody."

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