University of Alabama men’s basketball coach Nate Oats married former Crimson Tide staffer Alex Accetta over the weekend, according to a social media post from Alabama assistant coach Brian Adams.
Adams shared a photo from the wedding that included Oats, Accetta, Alabama athletics director Greg Byrne and several current and former university staffers. The ceremony marked the latest chapter in a personal timeline that has drawn significant public attention since Oats first revealed their engagement in April.
Oats, 51, and Accetta, 31, confirmed their engagement during an April appearance by Oats on SiriusXM’s college sports channel. Discussing Alabama’s upcoming series with St. John’s, Oats referred to Accetta as his fiancée while recounting a past Knicks playoff game they attended together at Madison Square Garden.
“Me and Alex, my fiancée now, she was my girlfriend at the time, we were at a Knicks playoff game, and I’m sitting there at (Madison Square) Garden,” Oats said. “I’m like, ‘Hold on.’ I’m a high school coach and I got an opportunity to coach in here, and I’m gonna say no?”
Timeline of events
- 2015-2017: Accetta, a Dallas native, worked as a student assistant in the Alabama men’s basketball office while earning her degree in business management. She graduated from the University of Alabama in May 2017.
- 2017-2021: Accetta served as operations coordinator for the program. She was later promoted to director of basketball operations, a role in which she handled budgeting, managers, graduate assistants and day-to-day scheduling for the team and head coach.
- 2022: Accetta left Alabama and joined the Dallas Mavericks organization. She has worked in guest experience and related operations roles with the NBA franchise.
- 2023: Oats and his then-wife, Crystal, quietly divorced after approximately 26 years of marriage. The couple married in 1997 and share three daughters: Lexie, Jocelyn and Brielle. Crystal is a cancer survivor who was diagnosed with an aggressive form of lymphoma (double-hit lymphoma) in 2015 and later went into remission.
- April 2026: Oats publicly confirmed his engagement to Accetta during the SiriusXM interview.
- Late July 2026: Oats and Accetta married over the weekend, with the news first shared publicly by Adams.
Accetta’s professional path in basketball predates her full-time roles at Alabama. Before joining the Crimson Tide staff, she spent three years (2010-13) working with Hall of Famer Nancy Lieberman with the Texas Legends of the NBA G League.
Oats has led Alabama since the 2019-20 season. Under his tenure the Crimson Tide have won two SEC regular-season titles, two SEC tournament championships, reached the program’s first Final Four in 2024 and made six consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances. He signed a six-year contract extension with the university in April 2026.
The marriage closes a chapter that began with a low-profile divorce in 2023 and moved into public view with the engagement announcement earlier this year. Alabama officials and the coaching staff have not issued formal statements beyond the social media confirmation of the wedding.
