There are two key similarities between Alabama basketball coach Nate Oats and former Alabama football coach Nick Saban.
No.1, they both know how to dress, or at least understand that maintaining a classy image in public comes with the job and is a sign of respect for the people they represent.
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This might seem trivial to some, but those are probably just the guys who think it’s OK to wear flannel shirts with dress slacks, flip-flops away from the beach, workout attire away from the gym, sweatpants in public, tactical pants to church, saggy jeans anywhere, camo, team jerseys outside of stadiums, tucked in T-shirts and square-toed shoes or boots.
Everyone else appreciates the fact that Oats isn’t the best dressed coach in college basketball by accident and that Saban (or at least Miss Terry) has impeccable fashion sense.
Secondly — and this might be a little more important — Oats is like Saban in that he never wavers from the coaching ethos that winning is all that matters.
Too cutthroat? Maybe for some, but that’s one of the things that makes Oats good at his job.
Oats hasn’t turned Alabama basketball into a national contender by handing out participation trophies, which is why sitting point guard Mark Sears against LSU didn’t come as much of a surprise.
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The broadcasters calling the game for ESPN made a big deal about Sears being on the bench, but it’s not the first time that Oats has kept Sears out of the rotation this season and it might not be the last either.
Maybe Oats was trying to send a message by putting his best offensive player on the bench, or maybe Alabama’s coach just wanted more length on defense for the second half. Either way, it was the right call. Alabama won and Oats even noted afterwards that it was some of the best defense Alabama had played all season to end a game.
Sears was back in the lineup on Wednesday against Mississippi State and led Alabama with 17 points, six rebounds and nine assists. Once again, though, Oats made the correct decision late in the game when he subbed out Mark Sears and Aden Holloway in favor of taller players.
If only the football coach at Alabama knew how to manage his team so effectively.
No.4 Alabama basketball (18-3, 7-1 in the SEC) returns to action on Saturday with a home game against Georgia. The Tide is one of the deepest teams in the country, and Oats is going to need it to finish out this season. The remaining schedule is like nothing I’ve ever seen. Ten games remain and Alabama’s final seven opponents are all currently ranked in the AP Top 25.
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Alabama could make it all the way to the championship game of the NCAA Tournament and have an easier road.
No one has it easy in the SEC, of course. The league has never been better. Some are calling it the best conference in college basketball history. Maybe so. No.1 Auburn (19-1, 7-0) plays eight ranked opponents across its final 11 games. Tennessee, which has lost three of its last four games, is grinding through a stretch of nine ranked teams in its first 10 conference games.
Coach John Calipari left Kentucky for Arkansas this season, but the Hogs are only 1-6 in the SEC.
Lamont Paris won SEC Coach of the Year in 2024, but his South Carolina Gamecocks are 0-8 to begin conference play this season.
The toughest football conference in the country is now the best basketball conference, too. The SEC’s greatest February of hoops begins on Saturday, but that’s just a build up for the big finish.
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With Auburn and Alabama one and two in the SEC standings, it looks like league bragging rights and the regular-season title will go through the Heart of Dixie. Alabama and Auburn play twice over the final three weeks of the season. It will be a test of mental toughness like this league has never seen.
In benching Sears, Oats made sure that his point guard would be ready for the fight. And if Sears needs a rest, well, Alabama’s cutthroat, win-first coach planned ahead by taking Auburn’s old point guard and making him better.
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Joseph Goodman is the lead sports columnist for the Alabama Media Group, and author of the book “We Want Bama: A Season of Hope and the Making of Nick Saban’s Ultimate Team.”
Alabama football fans are invited to a preseason pep rally Aug. 4 at the Tuscaloosa River Market.
The pep rally is part of the annual fall kickoff event hosted by the Tuscaloosa County chapter of the University of Alabama National Alumni Association.
The family friendly event will begin at 5:30 p.m. at the River Market, 1900 Jack Warner Parkway. Tickets, which include a barbecue dinner, cost $30 for adults and $15 for children ages 8 to 12. Children 7 years old and younger will be admitted for free.
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The pep rally will feature live entertainment, a silent auction and a range of family-friendly activities. There will also be a cash bar with wine and beer.
Tickets can be purchased on the chapter’s website, tuscaloosacountyuaalumni.com. Membership in the local alumni chapter is not required for attendance.
More: Retired general to lead new University of Alabama school
University of Alabama President Peter Mohler and UA baseball coach Rob Vaughn will be part of the festivities.
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Mohler began his duties as UA president on July 21, 2025.
Before being named UA president, Mohler spent nearly 15 years at Ohio State University, where he held senior leadership roles overseeing research, innovation and economic development. He also served as OSU’s acting president, providing leadership during a pivotal period for one of the nation’s largest public universities.
Mohler earned a bachelor’s degree in biology from Wake Forest University and a PhD in cell and molecular physiology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute at Duke University Medical Center before joining the faculty at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
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Vaughn has been UA’s head baseball coach for three years, leading the Crimson Tide to the College Baseball World Series in 2026.
The Humble, Texas, native served as head baseball coach at Maryland for five seasons before coming to Tuscaloosa.
Vaughn played collegiate baseball at Kansas State, where his position was catcher.
Alabama begins the 2026 football season on Sept. 5 with a home game against the East Carolina Pirates. Kickoff is set for 11 a.m. at Bryant-Denny Stadium.
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Other Alabama home games include Florida State on Sept. 19, South Carolina on Sept. 26, Georgia on Oct. 10, Texas A&M on Oct. 24, Chattanooga on Nov. 21 and Auburn on Nov. 28.
Reach Ken Roberts at ken.roberts@tuscaloosanews.com. To support his work, please subscribe to The Tuscaloosa News.
The Alabama teen charged in a heinous knife attack on his parents in their sleepy private community hissed that he was “gonna kill” his dad as he allegedly stabbed him — as new photos show the blood-soaked front porch where his butchered mom died.
The grisly scene unfolded on home surveillance footage Sunday night along Augustine Drive in the handsome Belforest complex — which captured the 17-year-old threatening his father, while allegedly knifing him.
“You can hear both of them coming out of the house, and there’s like one scream from the mom,” neighbor Shawn Scurry, 51, told The Post Wednesday.
“Then the dad is arguing with the [son] — and when I say arguing, I mean like, ‘Why are you doing this?’
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“He’s basically saying, ‘I don’t want to die. Please stop. No.’ And then he’s repeating, ‘Somebody help me, please, help me’ very loudly,” Scurry said of the clip.
Samantha Baker (left) was allegedly stabbed to death by her 17-year-old son — as her husband, Lance Baker (right), begged the boy to stop the sickening attack. Facebook/Lance Samantha Baker
At one point, the audio captures the son “telling [the dad] he was gonna kill him.”
“Those words are in the video,” she said.
Meanwhile, a large pool of blood stained the front entrance of a neighbor’s home where cops say 37-year-old Samantha Baker was butchered around 9 p.m. Sunday.
Another haunting image exclusively obtained by The Post shows blood splattered and smeared across a glass window overlooking the spot where Samantha was found dead.
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The bloodbath began after Samantha and her 46-year-old husband Lance Baker got into a heated argument with their 17-year-old son over a disciplinary issue inside their family home, Baldwin County Sheriff’s Office Captain Justin Correa told The Post Wednesday.
That’s when the boy — whose name is being withheld by police — turned a kitchen knife on his parents, allegedly stabbing them both “multiple times,” according to Correa.
A large pool of blood stained the front entrance of the Belforest community home in Baldwin County, where cops say Samantha Baker was found dead from multiple stab wounds Sunday night. Obtained by NY PostAnother haunting video clip exclusively obtained by The Post shows blood splattered and smeared across a glass window overlooking the spot where Samantha was found dead. Obtained by NY Post
The parents fled outside in a desperate bid to escape — but the attack continued.
Lance’s spine-chilling screams could be heard as he ran door to door down the block, leaving bloodied handprints on neighbors’ front doors while seeking help — with his son right on his tail, according to the traumatized neighbor.
“It was like fighting off a bee that keeps stinging you,” Scurry said, and claimed that another neighbor’s surveillance camera captured the teen repeatedly stabbing his father outside another nearby home.
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Correa confirmed that doorbell camera footage of the assault had been handed over to police, and said at least “a few” of the neighbors were not home when Lance was looking for help.
Lance only “went to doors where people were on vacation — that’s why they didn’t answer, and that’s why he was becoming helpless,” Scurry claimed.
Scurry, who was home at the time, only became slightly aware of the horror unfolding when she spotted the Bakers’ dog wandering around her front door.
“I walked with the dog back to their house, rang their doorbell. Nobody answered, and I went around to the garage,” she recalled.
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That’s when she heard cries in the distance.
“I heard … ‘Help me.’ I couldn’t find where it was coming from,” Scurry said, adding that she went back into her home after that.
The bloodbath began after Samantha and Lance got into a heated argument with the knife-wielding son over a disciplinary issue, according to authorities. Facebook/Lance Samantha Baker
The teen eventually retreated to his family’s home and called 911, said authorities, who described the attack as an isolated domestic matter.
Cops arrested him at the home without incident, according to Correa, who pushed back on reports that the alleged killer barricaded himself inside the house.
As emergency crews flooded their typically quiet street, Scurry said she stepped outside again and saw Samantha’s body before the coroner arrived.
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“I saw her face down with stab wounds all over her back,” the shaken neighbor said.
Samantha, a realtor, was pronounced dead at the scene.
Lance, a US Army Reserve Battalion Commander with the 1184th Deployment and Distribution Support Battalion in Mobile, was flown to a local hospital in critical condition, according to cops.
Nest camera footage from a neighboring home allegedly captured chilling audio of Samantha’s final moments — along with Lance’s frantic pleas for the teen to drop the knife. Obtained by NY Post
As of Wednesday, the father of two was still in the hospital, where his condition had become stable, Correa said.
The teen, who will be tried as an adult, is facing charges of murder and attempted murder. He is being held in jail on a $1 million bond after his arraignment on Monday.
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The family’s younger teen son was not at the home at the time of the attack, police said.
Jan 8, 2018; Atlanta, GA, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide defensive back Tony Brown (2) against the Georgia Bulldogs in the 2018 CFP national championship college football game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images
Mac Jones joined “Bussin With The Boys” and was asked who his craziest teammate ever was, and he went back to his Alabama days to highlight Tony Brown.
Brown is a former Alabama cornerback.
“There’s this guy, Tony Brown,” Jones said. “I don’t know if you guys know him. Look him up on there. His name’s Crazy Tony, but he was a stud at Alabama. He played on that defense with like Daron Payne, like all those guys, Minka (Fitzpatrick), everybody. He played in the league for a little bit. He was the man, like scout team, me and him. Every day, like going at it, like pretty much fighting. He was just crazy, dude. I’d throw a dig route over the middle, and he would just crush our scout team receiver. Like, Mac Hereford… he would go over the middle and Crazy Tony would just crush him. Saban would just look the other way. I’m like, dude, he just got smoked. Like, what are we doing? It’s like same thing, fighting at practice and stuff. But he was a great teammate. He just had his thing on the field where it was like he just blacked out. It wasn’t because he was a bad guy or anything. That’s what he does. He goes and knocks people out.”
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Brown played for Alabama from 2014 to 2017, and he was a part of two National Championship teams. He finished his career at Alabama with 89 total tackles, 5.5 tackles for loss and three interceptions before moving on to the NFL.
Justin Smith is the Managing Editor and Lead Writer for Touchdown Alabama Magazine with over 10 years of writing experience & expertise. Smith has consistently delivered high quality, extensively researched information on the University of Alabama’s Crimson Tide football team that fans can trust. Smith is official credentialed media with the University of Alabama under Touchdown Alabama Magazine. He is also the Director of Recruiting for Touchdown Enterprises, specializing in scouting and analyzing high school recruits around the nation, specifically focusing on recruits within the state of Alabama.