Throughout the Division I coaching career of current Alabama head coach Nate Oats, the transfer portal has played a critical role in his early rise to national prominence.Â
In his first DI head coaching position, Oats replaced Bobby Hurley at Buffalo in 2015 and didn’t miss a beat, leading the Bulls to a second consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance.
Two seasons later, it was Oats coaching Buffalo to a program record 27-wins before shattering that just a year later with a 32-wins and a No. 15 national ranking during the 2018-19 campaign.
Leading on the court for those two 2018 and 2019 MAC Champion squads, transfers like former DII wing Jeremy Harris, Missouri guard Wes Clark and JUCO recruit Dontay Caruthers were integral.
However, since Oats’ hiring at Alabama in 2019, the transfer portal and its role within college basketball has only grown. After finishing just 16-15 and 8th in the SEC during his first season with the Crimson Tide despite having multiple future NBA players, Oats had to adjust.
It didn’t take long though as Alabama quickly rebounded to win the 2020-21 SEC Regular-Season Championship and the 2021 SEC Tournament in just Oats’ second season with the program.
While returners like Jaden Shackelford and Herb Jones vastly improved, Villanova transfer Jahvon Quinerly was the catalyst to lift Alabama to its first SEC Championship since 1991.
Since Oats’ first season at the helm, Alabama hasn’t missed an NCAA Tournament and the transfer portal has continued to prove instrumental in the way he’s built this program back up.
During the 2021-22 season, former Florida SouthWestern State (JUCO) addition Keon Ellis was a top-three contributor and an All-SEC Defense selection but the Crimson Tide were eliminated in the First Round.
In 2022-23, as Alabama climbed to a No. 1 ranking, another round of SEC titles and the top seed at the 2023 NCAA Tournament, Ohio transfer Mark Sears was the veteran leader in Oats’ backcourt.
While highly ranked freshmen like Brandon Miller and Noah Clowney led the production, Sears was the gear that turned this Crimson Tide offense and in 2023-24 he came back to do it again.
As a lot of those highly ranked underclassmen moved on after falling short in the 2023 Sweet Sixteen, Sears returned with a renewed sense of ambition and Oats’ reloaded via the transfer portal to support him.
6-foot-10 All-Summit League First Team selection Grant Nelson, who averaged just shy of a double-double in 2022-23, landed with Alabama and became an instant impact addition.
Joining Sears in the backcourt, Two-Time CAA Player of the Year Aaron Estrada arrived from Hofstra where he averaged 20.2 PPG as a 31 game starter during the 2022-23 campaign.
Between the trio of Sears, Nelson and Estrada, Alabama fought all the way to the program’s first Final Four appearance in history before falling to the eventual National Champions in UConn.
During the 2024 offseason, Oats continued building with the model of acquiring veteran talent by replacing some lost production with several more transfer portal recruits.
While previous transfers like Sears, Nelson and Latrell Wrightsell are still leading the production, new pieces like forward Clifford Omoruyi (Rutgers) and Aden Holloway (Auburn) have been valuable.
In the Crimson Tide’ season opening win over UNC Asheville, Omoruyi managed 16 points, eight boards and two blocked shots while Holloway came off the bench and added 11 points.
Furthermore, 2023-24 AAC Player of the Year and USF transfer Chris Youngblood has yet to make his Alabama debut as he battles an ankle injury but is expected to return prior to SEC play.
With transfer contributors up and down the roster for Oats this season, the Crimson Tide are off to yet another undefeated 3-0 start and currently sit ranked second in the nation behind Kansas.
As Alabama prepares to face No. 13 ranked Purdue tonight though, the transfer portal additions have to lead the way. If Oats is to conquer one of his season’s toughest tests in the Boilermakers, contributors like Sears, Nelson, Wrightsell and Omoruyi will need to be on point for the Crimson Tide.
