Nate Oats Alabama Contract Raise Revealed After UNC Rumors, Buyout Details

Nate Oats will be one of college basketball's highest-paid coaches after signing a new deal with Alabama earlier this month.

Per Mike Rodak of 247Sports, Oats will earn $7.2 million per year, with only Kansas' Bill Self, UConn's Dan Hurley and Arkansas' John Calipari earning more annually.

Oats' new buyout will now be $15 million through March 2027 and will decrease to $12 million through March 2028.

Alabama athletics director Greg Byrne announced on April 5 that the program had signed Oats to a new deal.

"Nate Oats has signed a new contract that will make him one of the top five compensated men's basketball coaches in the country," Byrne said in a release. "Appropriate members of the board of trustees have been notified of the proposed terms of the new agreement and it will soon be formally approved through the board process."

According to Rodak, Alabama also extended assistant coach Preston Murphy through April 2028, giving him a new average salary of $905,000.

Oats took over ahead of the 2019-20 season after previously serving as the head coach of Buffalo. He's quickly turned Alabama basketball into a consistent contender after an era that saw the Crimson Tide reach the tournament just two times in the span of 13 years.

Since Oats took over, Alabama has reached the tournament six out of seven seasons and has reached the Sweet 16 or better five times. The Crimson Tide went to the Final Four for the first time in program history in 2024.

Oats' success naturally has made him a candidate for a handful of big jobs across the country in recent years. Most notably, Oats was connected to the North Carolina job before the Tar Heels brought in former Denver Nuggets coach Michael Malone.

Amid the UNC rumors, Oats said he had "absolutely no reason to leave" Tuscaloosa.