SPOKANE, Wash. — While Alabama basketball was waiting to take the court to warmup for its game against Charleston, Crimson Tide coach Nate Oats made a quick stop down the hallway.

Oats went over to the Yale locker room. He wanted to congratulate Yale coach James Jones, whom Oats knows.

Jones and the No. 13-seeded Bulldogs had just upset No. 4 seed Auburn in the first round of March Madness, 78-76.

The Alabama locker room is down the hall from Yale's, so Oats didn't have to go far to see Jones and Yale. Oats stepped into the locker room, and a few minutes later, he hugged Jones outside the Yale locker room before Jones went to do postgame interviews.

Then Alabama went out onto the court to warmup, and Oats joined his team after congratulating his friend.

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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: Why Nate Oats visited Yale locker room after Bulldogs win vs Auburn