PHOENIX — This Final Four has a bit of everything. It has star power, it has large personalities, it has the heavy favorite and the longshot underdog.
It has no shortage of intriguing storylines, one of which is straight out of a movie script.
“If it wasn't for Danny and Bobby [Hurley], I wouldn't be here,” said Alabama head coach Nate Oats. “We're playing each other in Bobby's town down here in Phoenix. Kind of funny how it comes full circle.”
Eleven years ago, Alabama head coach Nate Oats was a math teacher and the boys basketball coach at a high school just outside of Detroit.
He had been a Division 3 assistant for five years prior, but the dream of coaching at a higher level was starting to fade.
“I had three daughters that were born right outside of Detroit. I didn't want to have to move my family,” Oats said. “Really, the Hurley family kind of helped me come to grips in my head with, ‘I'll be okay just being here the rest of my life.’ We were successful at Romulus [high school]. We were winning. Good retirement plan as a schoolteacher.”
Bob Hurley Sr. was the blueprint. He had carved out a hall of fame coaching career at St. Anthony’s in New Jersey, turning down multiple division one head coaching offers.
“If your first head coaching job ever is Division I level, there's a big spotlight on you. You can't experiment as much,” said Oats. “One year we pressed the whole year, found out what worked, didn't work. If you do that at this level, you may get fired after a year. If they fire me from being a coach at Romulus, it only takes like $4,000 away. I'm still good as a teacher. I still got my math job.”
That was until Bobby Hurley came along to recruit one of Oats’ players, while as an assistant coach under younger brother Dan at Rhode Island.
“The time that Dan and I spent with Nate just talking about basketball, instantly you could see his passion for the game and knowledge of the game, how much he loved talking about basketball, and just watching how he conducted practices,” said ASU head coach Bobby Hurley. “You could just tell he was a gifted coach.”
“He was running a college program in high school, just like my dad,” said UConn head coach Dan Hurley. “The thing I noticed about Nate when we recruited E.C. [Matthews] was like, this guy's wired different, number one. Different level of energy about him. Just the way he shows up when you meet him.”
When Bobby got the head coaching job at Buffalo, he knew exactly who he wanted by his side.
“We had two terrific years together at Buffalo,” said Bobby. “We took a lot of pride in building that program, and when I left and took the job at Arizona State, I was just super impressed with where Nate was able to continue to take the Buffalo basketball program, and not surprised at the success he's had at Alabama.”
Dan used to drive a mini cheese bus to tournaments as a prep school coach, while Oats was selling snacks out of his classroom to fundraise for his team.
Now, here they are going head-to-head on the biggest stage, a long, long way from their humble beginnings.
“I wouldn't trade my route for anything, because I got experience in different ways that a lot of these coaches don't get,” said Oats.
“It should give inspiration to a lot of people, a lot of young coaches out there that are trying to grow, developing, and dream about one day having the opportunity to do something special, like my brother and Nate Oats will do this weekend,” said Bobby.
“If I had some secret formula, I'd write a book and make millions, retire from coaching,” said Oats. “You’ve got to catch a lot of breaks, but you’ve got to be ready for your breaks when they're given to you, too.”
“I'm just a high school guy that caught a break, that's still trying to prove that I belong at this level.”
