Where Nate Oats Ranks Among Past Alabama Coaches in NBA Draft Picks

A look at the best collegiate careers from the players drafted under 10 Crimson Tide coaches.

Mar 11, 2023; Nashville, TN, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Nate Oats talks with forward Brandon Miller (24) against the Missouri Tigers during the second half at Bridgestone Arena. Mandatory Credit: Steve Roberts-Imagn Images | Steve Roberts-Imagn Images

Alabama basketball head coach Nate Oats has accomplished things that Crimson Tide fans couldn't even dream of during his seven-year tenure.

Oats has acquired Alabama's most NCAA Tournament wins and victories over AP Top 25 opponents. Additionally, the Crimson Tide has had an AP All-American on its roster five times during his tenure. Alabama accomplished this just eight times before Oats' arrival. On top of it all, he led UA to its first Final Four appearance in program history and has made at least the Sweet 16 four consecutive times.

His efforts have helped six players get selected in the NBA Draft, which ranks third among every Alabama head coach since the program's inception. On Saturday, we took a look at some of the best NBA careers of Alabama's 48 total draft picks since 1949. So today, let's dive into some of the top collegiate careers that these coaches paved the way for (no undrafted players will be listed below).

Wimp Sanderson (1980-92) - 16 draft picks

Eddie Phillips (1978-82): The three-time All-SEC member is Alabama's second all-time leading scorer with 1,937 points and currently ranks fifth in the UA record books with 1,129 rebounds. He is one of only six players in school history to record more than 1,000 points and 1,000 rebounds in his Crimson Tide career under Sanderson.

C.M. Newton (1969-80) - 9 draft picks

Reggie King (1976-79): The two-time All-American holds Alabama's career scoring record with 2,168 points under Newton. He is the only Tide men's basketball player to break the 2,000 points milestone. He amassed 747 points during his senior season in 1979, which was the single-season school scoring record, until Mark Sears (797) broke it in 2023-24.

Nate Oats (2019-Present) - 6 draft picks

Brandon Miller (2022-23): Miller, who is tied with Antonio McDyess as the highest pick for an Alabama player (No. 2), was the leader on an all-time Alabama team that won the SEC regular season championship, SEC Tournament championship and made the Sweet Sixteen in the NCAA Tournament. The conference's leading scorer's accolades in just one season under Oats: First Team All-SEC, SEC Freshman of the Year, SEC Player of the Year and Second Team All-American.

Mark Gottfried (1998-2009) - 5 draft picks

Richard Hendrix (2005-08): Hendrix ranks fifth in the UA record books for career field goal percentage (62.9 percent), 13th in total rebounds (849) and 25th in career points (1,327). Additionally, his 152 career blocked shots rank 10th while his 2.0 blocks per game average is tied for ninth, doing all of this under Gottfried.

David Hobbs (1992-98) - 5 draft picks

Antonio McDyess (1994-96): McDyess played at Alabama for two seasons under Hobbs, leaving for the NBA after his sophomore year. The All-SEC Second Team member led the conference in rebounding with 10.2 boards a game in 1995. His dominance helped him become the No. 2 pick in the 1995 NBA Draft, which is currently tied with Brandon Miller for UA's earliest selection in a draft.

Floyd Burdette (1946-52) - 3 draft picks

Paul Sullivan (1949-52): The Crimson Tide's first-ever draft pick was an All-SEC center in 1951 and 1952 and was named to the All-SEC Tournament team in 1952 as well. Sullivan was the first Alabama basketball player to score 400 points in a season and also the first player to score 30 points in a game. Under Burdette, he led the 1951 and 1952 teams in scoring, rebounding, field goal attempts, field goals made, field goal percentages, free throws made and free throw attempts.

Johnny Dee (1952-56) - 1 draft pick

Jerry Harper (1952-56): Alabama's first two-time All-American was a member of the "Rocket 8" team, as he helped the Tide to a program-best No. 5 ranking during the 1956 season under Dee. That same year, the Crimson Tide became the first-ever undefeated team in SEC history (14-0), as he set the SEC career record with 1,688 rebounds across his 93 games played (18.2 rebounds per game) and has remained the SEC's all-time leader for nearly 70 years.

Eugene Lambert (1956-60) - 1 draft pick

Jim Fulmer (1956-58): The Alabama Sports Hall-of-Famer is fourth in Tide history for most free throws made (189) in a season. His 557 points to lead the 1956-57 squad is the 27th-highest single-season total recorded by any Alabama player, while his 21.4 average per game is the seventh-best ever. Fulmer also grabbed 383 rebounds that season under Lambert, the third-most in program history.

Hayden Riley (1960-68) - 1 draft pick

Bob Andrews (1962-65): He became Alabama's fifth All-American following the 1964-65 season, after leading the Crimson Tide to a 17-9 record while averaging 19.3 points and 9.0 rebounds per game. Andrews' 501 points in 1964-65 under Riley represented only the sixth 500-point season at the time in program history.

Avery Johnson (2015-19) - 1 draft pick

Collin Sexton (2017-18): In just one season under Johnson as a freshman at Alabama, he was named the SEC Newcomer and Co-Freshman of the Year, an All-SEC Second Team member, scored a school record 79 points in UA's three SEC Tournament contests, set the Alabama single-season scoring record for a freshman and became third on the Tide's single-season scoring list.

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