"The more you eat the poison, you're gonna die": Nate Oats recall Nick Saban quotes as Alabama instills underdog mentality in championship chase
Alabama coach Nate Oats continues to instill the underdog mentality into the minds of his players while the Crimson Tide gets ready for the 2024-25 college basketball season.
Despite being pegged as the third-best recruiting class this year by On3.com, Oats keeps on emphasizing to his players that success is a long process and they have to earn it.
“If we take care of business, play hard, move the ball, take care of the ball like that, the outcome will take care of itself, and just worry about the process of being the hardest-playing team on the floor every night," Oats, who guided Alabama to the Final Four this past season, said.
Oats is in his sixth year as Alabama coach and he is making a conscious effort to keep the team's ego in check. At the same time, remain hungry for more achievements, especially since the Crimson Tide were a win away from making the national championship last season.
He is also grateful to legendary Alabama football coach Nick Saban for teaching him a thing or two in coaching, especially in monitoring "rat poison" within the team.
“He had the best term for it, I think he called it rat poison. The more you listen to it, the more you eat the poison, you’re gonna die," Oats said as per On3.com.
He believes that listening to those praises would destroy the team's competitive spirit and the hunger to win every game possible.
Alabama parades a star-studded lineup for 2024-25 college basketball season
Alabama comes into the 2024-25 college basketball season with a lot of expectations and is tabbed as one of the top favorites to win the national title.
The Crimson Tide will have five returning stars from last season's lineup, including All-American guard Mark Sears. They also have high-caliber transfers and recruits in AAC Co-Player of the Year Chris Youngblood, Rutgers transfer center Clifford Omoruyi and five-star small forward Derrion Reed.
Alabama will have a busy October before starting its regular season. The school will unveil the Crimson Tide's Final Four banner on Oct. 11 and will have exhibition games against Wake Forest (Oct. 18) and Memphis (Oct. 28).
They will open the season at home against UNC Ashville on Nov. 4 and will have two more home games against Arkansas State and McNeese State on Nov. 8 and Nov. 11. Later, they will go to West Lafayette, Indiana, to visit last year's NCAA Tournament runnerup, Purdue, on Nov. 15.
Alabama will close the month of November with games against Illinois on Nov. 20, Houston (Nov. 26), Rutgers (Nov. 27) and Notre Dame (Nov. 30).