Head men’s basketball coach Nate Oats agreed to a new five-year contract today that will keep him on the sidelines through the 2020-21 season. Coach Oats will be available to the media on Thursday afternoon at 3:15pm inside the Alumni Arena Media Center.
Bull Run will embed the live stream in this post.
In his first season, Oats faced numerous hurdles. When Bobby Hurley went to Arizona State, UB's best young player, Shannon Evans, followed along. Several recruits and transfers who had committed to Hurley also left the program. Towards the end of the summer, the biggest remaining piece of the puzzle was taken away from Oats when Justin Moss, the reigning Mid-American Conference Player of the Year, was expelled from the University.
Despite the turmoil, Oats found high-value contributors in JUCO transfers and true freshman while fielding a team that, similar to Hurley's, excelled at creating high-percentage shots close to the basket. Oats placed himself alongside Hurley and Len Serfustini as one of the most successful first-year coaches in program history, and was named a finalist for the Joe B. Hall Award, which recognizes the nation's most outstanding first-year head coach.
Prior to this extension, Oats' base salary was $250,000, with a host of incentives: 1/12th of his salary for a MAC regular season championship, another 1/12th for a MAC Tournament title, 1/12th for an NCAA at-large or NIT bid, 1/12th for Sweet 16 and Elite 8 berths, 1/6th for a Final Four appearance, a 100% bonus for an NCAA title, 10K for MAC Coach of the Year, 10K for Regional Coach of the Year, 25K for National Coach of Year, and 25% of ticket revenue over 500K.