Nate Oats Credits Nick Saban - 'A Big Basketball Guy' - For Helping Spark Alabama's Run To The Final Four

The Alabama Crimson Tide’s men’s basketball team might not be playing in the Final Four if it weren’t for Nick Saban.

Don’t get the wrong idea, the former football coaching legend didn’t pick up a new job in his retirement. Nate Oats has kept his job for the entire season and guided the Crimson Tide to their first national semifinal appearance in program history.

But the road to Glendale, AZ wasn’t smooth for Alabama. Before March Madness began, the Tide had lost four out of their last six games, including a shocking 102-88 loss to the Florida Gators in their first game in the SEC tournament.

Oats had a hard time figuring out how to give his team the proper advice in the midst of the slump. That’s why he turned to Saban, a coaching genius who (unsurprisingly) knows a thing or two about getting teams in the right mindset.

"I was trying to figure out how to get our guys' minds right after we had dropped a few at the end of the year. How do we turn it around?," Oats said. "He’s actually a big basketball guy."

"He was just big on, ‘Coach, you’ve gotta get them to move to the next play. They’re not doing a good job, they’re giving up runs.’ He’s got an idea and he’s usually pretty much dead on."

Saban's Advice Worked Wonders For Alabama

Wouldn’t ya know, the Tide started playing much better when they applied Saban’s knowledge. They rattled off consecutive wins against Charleston, Grand Canyon, UNC, and Clemson to get to the Final Four.

Oats said that the advice from the seven-time national champion has turned into a mantra that has helped steer his team to the Final Four.

Oats (arms crossed) said that Nick Saban's advice has helped his team get to the Final Four. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)

"We just took the word ‘next’...next play ,next action, next timeout, just move to the next one. It's been pretty good for us," Oats said.

Alabama’s "next" challenge comes in the form of the juggernaut that is the UConn Huskies, with tip-off set for 8:49 p.m. We’ll see if they can pull off the monumental upset to get to the national title game.

If they do, they’ll have Saban to thank for helping them.