SEC commissioner Greg Sankey on Wednesday issued Alabama men's basketball coach Nate Oats a public reprimand for making physical contact with a Missouri player during the Crimson Tide' 93-75 victory Tuesday. Sankey, in a statement released by the conference, called the contact "unacceptable" and a violation of the sportsmanship expectations for the league.
"Nate Oats' actions were unacceptable and violated the expectations for conduct and sportsmanship as established by the membership of the Southeastern Conference," Sankey said in the statement. "Under no circumstances should a coach make intentional contact with a student-athlete on an opposing team."
Oats pushed Mizzou's Aidan Shaw back towards the Missouri bench in a tense exchange after Shaw and Alabama's Aaron Estrada got into a heated confrontation.
Video replay of the incident shows Oats stuck his arm into Shaw's chest and extended his forearm before pointing Shaw to his own bench in an apparent attempt to diffuse the situation. The situation wasn't well-received by Shaw and his teammates who were around him, but the two sides were separated and the game continued.
LFG NATE!!!! pic.twitter.com/uJMXxsxcn4
— Ryan Phillips (@JournoRyan) January 17, 2024
After the game, Oats said he apologized to both Missouri coach Dennis Gates and to Shaw for his actions.
"I have all the respect in the world for the job Gates has done as an assistant and head coach," Oats said. "[I mean] no disrespect to him or his program. I apologized to both Coach Gates and Aidan Shaw. Aidan seems like a great kid. It's an unfortunate situation, but I apologized to both of them."
Gates in his own postgame acknowledged that Oats apologized but questioned why, with the contact being made right in front of two officials, Oats wasn't assessed a technical foul.
