Alabama basketball coach Nate Oats signed a contract extension recently that will make him one of the country's highest-paid coaches, The Tuscaloosa News has confirmed.

Alabama athletics director Greg Byrne announced the extension Friday before the Crimson Tide played Florida in the SEC Tournament. After the game that Alabama lost 102-88, Oats was asked about the contract extension.

"I've had a really good five years here working with Greg, Dr. (Stuart) Bell, the Board (of Trustees) and just everybody around the school," Oats said. "I love it here. We've turned the program around. A little disappointed tonight obviously."

Oats then said Alabama would like to be playing Saturday and for the SEC Tournament championship, something Alabama has won twice in the past four seasons. But Oats noted the Crimson Tide will play in its fourth straight NCAA Tournament next week; Alabama had only made the NCAA Tournament twice over the 13 seasons prior to Oats' arrival.

"We've got the program headed in the right direction," Oats said. "We've got the commitment from the administration that they're going to continue to support us in the way I feel like we can compete to be a top 10, top 25 team year-in and year-out. I appreciate their support in keeping me here, take my name out of some of the other job openings that are there. Probably not great timing with this loss tonight."

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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: Nate Oats contract: Alabama basketball coach discusses extension