Inside The Locker Room: Nate Oats
Click the video to hear Nate Oats talk with Wimp and Barry on last week's Inside The Locker Room!
The former coaches and the current coach dicussed how preparation for the season has changed with COVID, player injury updates, John Petty, and much more.
"...They're almost all here, 12 out of the 13 on scholarship are in Tuscaloosa. They came back, they all got tested last week, everything's good there..." said Oats about how the team is getting back on track after COVID cut last season short. "So now they can voluntarily use the weight room."
"They're motivated to have a better year." the coach added.
Alabama finished the season 16-15 (8-10 in SEC play) in Oats' first year with the program. Many fans are eager to see the team return to action following the conference tournaments and NCAA tournament being cancelled for the first time since its creation in 1939.
While talking about how COVID-19 is affecting workouts, Oats provided a look at the injury status of a few players. "We've got a lot of guys recovering too like Rojas and Juwan Gary who are still recovering from the knee surgeries, Quinerly's recovering, Herb's still recovering..."
In reference to John Petty's situation, Oats also commented on the August 3rd deadline to declare for the NBA, saying, "...(NBA teams) feedback has really slowed down, I think most teams have gotten the information they need." Petty has not yet declared whether he will go professional or stay for his senior season.
You can listen to Inside The Locker Room each weekday from 7-9 AM on Tide 100.9 FM or stream it for free on the Tide1009 app.