Don't blame Nate Oats for UConn flight delay before the Final Four. 'It wasn't me'
GLENDALE, Ariz. −Nate Oats was having a little fun in his press conference Thursday before the Final Four.
In his opening statement, the Alabama basketball coach decided to make a joke about the UConn plane situation, saying he didn't know what happened to it.
"It wasn't me," Oats quipped. "I didn't send anybody over there to mess with the mechanics."
The No. 1 seeded Huskies arrived at the Final Four in the early hours of Thursday after "mechanical issues," the NCAA said. Instead of leaving Connecticut at 6 p.m. ET like scheduled Wednesday night, the Huskies departed at 1:30 a.m. ET. No. 4 seed Alabama, who UConn will play in the Final Four on Saturday, arrived Tuesday.
"The UConn men’s basketball team has safely landed in Phoenix," a statement from the NCAA read Thursday morning. "The replacement aircraft out of Bradley International Airport experienced an additional two-hour delay due to weather in Connecticut and a minor mechanical issue which was resolved by the onboard mechanic. The delays were the result of an unfortunate set of circumstances."
Oats kept the jokes rolling in his press conference. He said he got a good night sleep Wednesday night.
"In a bed," Oats said. "Not a plane."
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Nick Kelly is the Alabama beat writer for The Tuscaloosa News, part of the USA TODAY Network, and he covers Alabama football and men's basketball. Reach him at nkelly@gannett.com or follow him @_NickKelly on X, the social media app formerly known as Twitter.
This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: UConn flight delay: Don't blame Nate Oats, Alabama coach jokes
