Just seven years ago, Nate Oats was the head men's basketball coach at Romulus High in Detroit. Today, he's entering his second season as the head man at Alabama. His ascension through the coaching ranks is an inspiring one, and the 46-year-old details the sacrifices, strategies and connections he made along the way to rise from Romulus to the University of Buffalo (where he led the Bulls to a school-record 32 wins in 2019 and two NCAA tournament victories) and now to Tuscaloosa. 

Not only that, he shares his devotion to skill development, modeling the NBA style of play, the language of advanced statistics and what FaceTime calls with Tom Thibodeau and William "World Wide Wes" Wesley are like. 

**YouTube Link to Episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_hZN3sKIoFM&t 

Episode highlights: 

 4:30 - how Oats prepared his team and maintained focus and team chemistry leading up to this season under immense and stringent pandemic protocols  
6:25 - Nate Oats-coached teams play at the same pace and style of NBA teams? 
 15:05 - which NBA coaches does Nate chop it up with about advanced stats & analytics? 
 20:05 - how his uptempo, open-floor, NBA-style offensive philosophy was born and developed 
23:45 - "We gotta go find guys that understand what it takes to win, that are willing to put their body on the line to win games" 
 28:20 - FaceTime calls with "World Wide Wes,"  Tom Thibodeau (former NBA Coach of year) and Kira Lewis  
30:40 - The sacrifices and work he put in to ascend from high school coach in Detroit to head coach of a power-conference program in just seven years 
34:55 - "Put in all the work in the dark...so [his players] have all the confidence in the world when it's time" 

Hosts - Kevin Fitzgerald 
Voiceover - Roger Hoover 
Music - "Jazzaddicts," by Cosimo Fogg 
Artwork - Jared Law