SEC Reprimands Oats For Making Physical Contact With Missouri Player

TUSCALOOSA, AL — Southeastern Conference Commissioner Greg Sankey on Wednesday issued a public reprimand of Alabama men's basketball coach Nate Oats for making physical contact with a player from Missouri during a verbal altercation near Alabama's bench Tuesday night in Coleman Coliseum.

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"Nate Oats' actions were unacceptable and violated the expectations for conduct and sportsmanship as established by the membership of the Southeastern Conference," Sankey said. "Under no circumstances should a coach make intentional contact with a student-athlete on an opposing team."

During the first half of what many described as a "chippy" game, Oats could be seen placing a hand on Missouri forward Aidan Shaw's chest while breaking up a verbal spat near the Tide bench, before pushing Shaw away from the crowd and pointing angrily to the other team's bench.

Oats did not receive a technical foul for the incident, which occurred directly in front of an SEC official. It did, however, ignite sizable public backlash.

Oats apologized to Shaw and Missouri's head coach following the game and also mentioned the apologies during his post-game press conference following Alabama's 93-75 win.

Sankey said the public reprimand was issued in violation of sportsmanship expectations set forth by the commissioner and the SEC Bylaws established by Conference membership.

He then cited the Commissioner's Memorandum related to sportsmanship:

"Coaches and institutional personnel shall provide favorable examples in appearance, conduct, language, and sportsmanship. Behavior shall reflect the high standards of honor and dignity that characterize participation in a collegiate setting. Examples of conduct from coaches and institutional personnel that fall short of these expectations include, but are not limited to, directing hostile comments or gestures toward a student-athlete on the opposing team."

The memorandum also states that during altercations: "coaches should make every reasonable effort to engage with the student-athletes from their team (rather than the student-athletes and coaches from the opposing team)."

Sankey also said Oats' actions violated SEC Bylaw 10.5 related to Conduct and Sportsmanship, which states:

"All institutional staff members and student-athletes of a member institution, shall conduct themselves with honesty and good sportsmanship. Their behavior shall at all times reflect the standards of honor and dignity that characterize participation in the collegiate setting. For intercollegiate athletics to promote the character development of participants, to enhance the integrity of higher education and to promote civility in society, coaches, student-athletes and all others associated with these athletics programs and events should adhere to such fundamental values as honor, respect, fairness, civility, honesty and responsibility. These values should be manifest not only in athletics participation but also in the broad spectrum of activities affecting the athletics program."

It is unclear at this time if the University of Alabama will take any additional action following the reprimand from the conference.

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