Only a few minutes after his team’s Sweet 16 face-plant against San Diego State on Friday night, Alabama head coach Nate Oats took a seat in front of a microphone and answered eight minutes of basketball-related questions.
Left unasked was the most pertinent one: Was it all worth it?
Was it worth refusing to bench Brandon Miller despite his involvement in a fatal shooting in Tuscaloosa on Jan. 15? Was it worth sullying Oats’ reputation and Alabama’s reputation to keep playing the star freshman? Was it worth getting buried under a month-long avalanche of negative publicity just to win two games in the men's NCAA tournament?