{"id":46700,"date":"2024-04-07T16:38:14","date_gmt":"2024-04-07T21:38:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/?p=46700"},"modified":"2024-04-07T16:38:14","modified_gmt":"2024-04-07T21:38:14","slug":"nate-oats-addresses-grant-nelsons-nba-future-id-love-to-have-him-back","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/nate-oats-addresses-grant-nelsons-nba-future-id-love-to-have-him-back\/","title":{"rendered":"Nate Oats addresses Grant Nelson\u2019s NBA future: \u2018I\u2019d love to have him back\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

Alabama<\/a><\/strong> bowed out of the NCAA Tournament in Saturday night\u2019s Final Four matchup vs. UConn<\/a><\/strong>, but Grant Nelson<\/a><\/strong> still had a great night for his NBA Draft stock. <\/p>\n

You can watch the tournament live on Prime Video, add on your favorite channels and watch at home or on your phone and laptop at work!<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Nelson has been terrific all March and one of the catalysts for Alabama\u2019s run to Phoenix. Against North Carolina, he was the best player on the floor, and then against UConn, he more than held his own against the future pros in the Husky front-court. After the loss, Alabama coach Nate Oats was asked about his big man\u2019s rising stock this tournament. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m sure his draft stock has risen in the tournament,\u201d said Oats. \u201cParticularly, how he played against \u2014 was it Carolina where he had 24-12-5. He\u2019s one of the four players in the history of the tournament to do that against a single-digit seed. I think it was him, Shaq, Tim Duncan and Channing Frye.\u201d<\/p>\n

Against UConn, the numbers were impressive as well. <\/p>\n

\u201cThis one, 19 (points) and 15 (rebounds), his stock has risen. We\u2019re going to have to sit down and evaluate how much it\u2019s risen, will he get drafted, where will he get drafted.\u201d<\/p>\n

Of course, Oats would love for a Mark Sear<\/a><\/strong>s type of situation to play out, where Nelson returns as the leader of next year\u2019s team. But if his stock is high enough to warrant a jump to the league, well, then Oats would love to help Nelson fulfill his ultimate dream of playing in the NBA. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d love to have him back, I know that. I always said you do what\u2019s right by the player, by the person. If he\u2019s got a great situation, makes most sense for him not to come back, I\u2019m all for it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Oats dealt with a similar situation a year ago where a big man in Noah Clowney<\/a><\/strong> wound up leaving for the draft after a far better freshman season that anyone could have imagined. <\/p>\n

\u201cNoah Clowney, nobody thought he\u2019d be gone after one year, and ends up going 21st from the draft last year. If Grant\u2019s stock rose enough to where it makes sense he leaves, I\u2019ll be the happiest guy in the world for him.\u201d<\/p>\n

But if Nelson ultimately wishes to come back, then obviously, Oats would be thrilled. Either way, he wants what\u2019s best for the senior. <\/p>\n

\u201cIf he needs another year of college, I\u2019ll welcome him back with open arms. I\u2019d love to welcome him back for another year. We\u2019ll have to figure that out in the next month or two, however long it takes to figure that out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nelson himself gave the following comment after the game on his future, leaving all possibilities open: <\/p>\n

\u201cIf I do come back to college, I\u2019m hoping it\u2019s Alabama. I\u2019m definitely going to talk to my agent, talk to the coaches, see what\u2019s best for me. Hopefully I can enter the draft process and get drafted this year. But if all else fails, hopefully it\u2019s Alabama coming back.\u201d<\/p>\n

The post Nate Oats addresses Grant Nelson\u2019s NBA future: \u2018I\u2019d love to have him back\u2019<\/a> appeared first on On3<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Alabama bowed out of the NCAA Tournament in Saturday night\u2019s Final Four matchup vs. UConn,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-46700","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46700","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46700"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46700\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":46737,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46700\/revisions\/46737"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46700"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46700"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46700"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}