Nate Oats' contract puts him among top public-school coaches
SPOKANE, Wash. — Nate Oats has a new contract that makes him one of the highest-paid coaches in the country, but he doesn't appear to be getting complacent.
Not even two weeks since he signed his extension, Oats has won two NCAA Tournament games. Oats has led Alabama basketball back to the Sweet 16 for the third time in four seasons, having earned a top-four seed also for the third time in four seasons.
There's an argument to be made its Oats' best coaching job yet in Tuscaloosa, considering he lost most of his roster from a season ago and the entire coaching staff. Plus, the Crimson Tide looked to be on a downward trajectory to end the regular season.
And yet, Alabama is back in the Sweet 16, set to face No. 1 seed UNC on Thursday in Los Angeles.
In wake of Oats' extension, The Tuscaloosa News/USA TODAY examined contracts for the highest-paid public school men's basketball coaches to determine average annual value and how Oats stacks up. Contracts for coaches at private schools are not available to access through open-record laws.
Oats is tied for third in annual average value for the duration of the contract and is fourth in annual average value remaining in contracts. With Kansas' Bill Self, Kentucky's John Calipari and Auburn's Bruce Pearl all having lost in the first weekend, that makes Oats the highest-paid public school coach remaining in March Madness.
Here's a breakdown of how the contracts stack up in terms of average annual value.
Where Nate Oats salary ranks among nation's highest-paid public school coaches
Oats ranks tied for third among public-school coaches in average annual value (AAV) over the course of the contract. The rankings:
1. Bill Self, Kansas: $9.14 million
2. John Calipari, Kentucky: $8.6 million
T-3. Nate Oats, Alabama: $6.275 million
T-3. Bruce Pearl, Auburn: $6.275 million
5. Tommy Lloyd, Arizona: $6 million*
6. Tom Izzo, Michigan State: $5.945 million
7. Rick Barnes, Tennessee: $5.52 million
8. Dan Hurley, UConn: $5.35 million In terms of remaining average annual value (AAV), here is how the coaches rank:
1 Bill Self, Kansas: $9.265 million 2 John Calipari, Kentucky: $8.9 million
3 Bruce Pearl, Auburn: $6.525 million
4 Nate Oats, Alabama: $6.275 million
5 Tommy Lloyd, Arizona: $6 million*
6 Tom Izzo, Michigan State: $5.945 million
7 Rick Barnes, Tennessee: $5.925 million
8 Dan Hurley, UConn: $5.42 million *Lloyd's new contract begins on April 1.
Important notes about Bill Self and Tom Izzo contracts
Both of these contracts are rolling contracts. The AAV calculation is based on Self's current 5-year contract because Self 's contract doesn't add another year until the five years are up. His updated contract was signed in November 2023.
Izzo has a similar setup in that his 5year deal that began in 2022 doesn't add another year until the five years are up.
The value of the future years is currently the same as the last year for both Self and Izzo.
AAV is calculated as total compensation divided by number of years in the contract. So for the purpose of this exercise, Izzo and Self had their deals treated as if they conclude at the end of their
Caitlin Clark is a whiner! West Virginia got robbed! The refs were blind!
Those criticisms, or versions of them, ricocheted around social media Monday night. Casual fans, NBA players, even some coaches were heated about the officiating in Iowa's win over the Mountaineers in the second round of the NCAA basketball tournament and weren't shy about expressing it.
“I feel like West Virginia women's team getting did bad by these refs,” Milwaukee Bucks star Damian Lillard said on X, speaking for, well, pretty much everyone who isn't an Iowa fan.
“Asking for a friend. Watching the WVU-Iowa game. Are the rules the same for both teams?” grumped Sacramento State coach Aaron Kallhoff, echoing the sentiments of the masses.
For anyone who's been a fan of women's basketball – heck, a fan of women's sports – and long wondered what it would take for the game to be taken as seriously as the men's, this was a glorious development.
Not the officiating. That's still trash and the NCAA really needs to do something.
But that people had watched the game and been so invested in the outcome they were ready to take up pitchforks and torches on West Virginia's behalf. That rather than putdowns and patronizing comments about female athletes, there were instead intense debates about the game they played. That for a few hours at least, a women's game dominated the national conversation.
This is what progress sounds like if you listened beyond the din. Equality takes all shapes and forms, and in this case it's griping about the refs.
None of these complaints came from West Virginia coach Mark Kellogg or his players, mind you. They were too proud of their defensive effort – holding Iowa to 64 points, almost 30 below its average, and not allowing anyone but Clark to make a 3-pointer – and the statement they made against college basketball's all-time leading scorer.
“It's a golden opportunity. An opportunity to beat the best player in the world or go toe-to-toe with her and compete for all 40 minutes,” said J.J. Quinerly, West Virginia's leading scorer. “That's what we did that whole game, competed the whole time.
“And nobody can take that away from us,” she added.
Quinerly wasn't suggesting the refs did. But plenty in the peanut gallery were. And that is the surest sign that women's basketball is being seen the same, afforded the same respect, as the men's game.
For too long, women's sports have been considered by most of the public as either afterthoughts or charity projects.
If they were considered at all. But in the last few years, people have realized that the women's game is pretty damn good.
That's been reflected in blockbuster TV numbers and sold-out arenas. It's seen in the number of female athletes starring in commercials and pulling in millions in NIL deals.
But the truest sign that a sport is really a sport is the petty arguments it produces.
NBA fans can argue for hours about who's the greatest player of all time. (Even though the answer is, obviously, LeBron James.)
Suggest Patrick Mahomes is a better quarterback than Tom Brady and you'd better make sure your calendar is clear for the foreseeable future.
It's a reflection of both the passions
current 5-year terms.
Izzo's AAV listed for this exercise doesn't include what Michigan State annually pays Izzo up front for private aircraft use because it can change each year. In one recent year, that amount was $0 because he didn't use his hours the prior year.
Meawhile, Self had private flight usage included in his AAV calculation here because he gets the same amount every year for flights: $240,000.
Self's contract is by far the most complicated of the group. The calculation of his AAV includes: Base salary, pro services, royalty payment, new contract earnings and the private jet allowance. It also includes a one-time signing bonus and an annual retention bonus that's vesting.
Izzo's AAV calculation also includes his $425,000 per year deal with Nike; the other coaches' compensation includes payments as consideration for activities including their involvement in shoe and apparel contracts. Izzo's contract with Nike has been added to his AAV calculation to better compare with other coaches' AAV calculations.
Calculation of Dan Hurley’s contract
Hurley's AAV calculation also includes an annual retention bonus of $500,000.
Contributing: Steve Berkowitz, USA Today Sports.
Nick Kelly is the Alabama beat writer for The Tuscaloosa News, part of the USA TODAY Network, and he covers Alabama football and men's basketball. Reach him at nkelly@gannett.com or follow him @_NickKelly on X, the social media app formerly known as Twitter.