Coach K Receives Apology from Alabama's Nate Oats for Comments About CBB Season

Alabama men's basketball coach Nate Oats issued an apology Saturday for questioning the motives of Duke's Mike Krzyzewski, who had called for a reassessment of the college basketball season amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

"I kind of want to publicly apologize to Coach K for what I said," Oats told reporters. "I assigned a motive to him and a decision made for his team, which I shouldn't have done. I actually felt terrible about it as soon I got out of the press conference. I reached out to him.

"It was unnecessary. It was wrong. I apologized to him. We had a good talk. I understand a lot more now where he's coming from. What's best for one program is not necessarily what's best for another program. So I learned a few lessons from it."

Oats previously questioned whether Duke's struggles played any part in Krzyzewski saying NCAA officials should consider the safety and mental health of players to potentially reconfigure the 2020-21 college basketball season.

"Do you think if Coach K hadn't lost his two nonconference games at home that he would still be saying that?" Oats said told reporters Thursday. "We 100 percent should be playing basketball."

Oats' comments drew widespread criticism, including from Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim, saying it "speaks to somebody's character" to criticize Krzyzewski. The Duke coach has been outspoken in his hesitance to continue playing this season amid a pandemic that has killed nearly 300,000 people. Wednesday saw more people die of COVID-19 than the terror attacks of 9/11.

Oats acknowledged his comments were in poor taste but said he stands by his belief the college basketball season should move forward.

While it's clear that players were eager to begin the season, it's fair to wonder whether their enthusiasm will continue as the season progresses. College football programs have been opting out of bowl games in favor of going home to see their families for the holidays, in large part because of the exhaustion of getting through the regular season.

Keeping in mind players are making these sacrifices while not getting paid, all while coaches are receiving their full salaries and able to go home at night, there may be a dichotomy of thought between players and coaches in the coming months. Krzyzewski should be commended for being one of the few prominent coaches to speak out on behalf of his players' physical and mental well being.