TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Throughout his five seasons as Alabama’s head basketball coach, Nate Oats has consistently scheduled tough non-conference games. This, he said, allows him to learn a lot about his program.
This season was no exception. In a 12-day stretch in December, the Crimson Tide played three teams currently ranked in the AP’s Top-25, in No. 2 Purdue, No. 19 Creighton, and No. 8 Arizona. They lost all three games.
Since then, Alabama has won 10 of its last 11 games. The Tide went from 6-5 and not even receiving votes to 16-6 and No. 16 in the latest AP poll. Entering Wednesday’s game against No. 12 Auburn (6 p.m. CT, ESPN2), Alabama leads the SEC at 8-1.
The other question mark surrounds Grubb. On Feb. 1, Grubb was linked to the Seattle Seahawks offensive coordinator opening. That has yet to be filled. The New York Giants blocked Seattle from interviewing potential candidate Mike Kafka. A former UA coordinator, Tommy Rees, was announced Monday as the Cleveland Browns’ tight ends coach and passing game specialist.
Grubb, who previously expressed interest in taking over for DeBoer at The University of Washington, was reportedly recruiting for UA along with other coaches over the weekend.
Nunez began his coaching career with Pittsburg State in 2005. He spent a year with Southern Illinois and was an assistant coach at Eastern Michigan before moving to Oklahoma.
DeBoer has already found a few key recruiting staffers from North Carolina State’s Jatavis Sanders and former UA student Jerret McElwain. UA reportedly isn’t retaining Charlie Strong and other former head coaches who worked under Saban as analysts