Alabama men's basketball head coach Nate Oats has re-hired his new wife, Alex Accetta, who joined the program as director of program relations, the University of Alabama announced on Thursday.
Oats, 51, is among the five best-paid coaches in college basketball, earning an annual salary of $7.25 million. He married Accetta, 31, in July after the pair kept their relationship largely out of public view.
The news first surfaced online when Alabama assistant coach Brian Adams posted a group photo on Instagram that included athletics director Greg Byrne and several other current and former university staff members.
Oats' daughter Jocelyn also shared a series of photobooth images from the wedding reception showing herself, her father, his new bride and her sister Lexie.
Accetta's earlier role at Alabama
Accetta previously worked as a staffer under Oats at Alabama while he was married to his first wife. She left the program in 2022 to join the Dallas Mavericks organization before returning to Tuscaloosa.
Oats was married to his first wife, Crystal, from 1997 until they quietly divorced in 2023. The couple share three daughters, Lexie, Jocelyn and Brielle. Crystal battled an aggressive form of lymphoma in 2015 before eventually being given the all-clear.
Oats went public with the romance in April
Oats first publicly confirmed his relationship with Accetta, a Dallas native 20 years his junior, in a SiriusXM radio interview in April. He was discussing coaching Alabama in a series against St John's at Madison Square Garden in New York when he brought her up.
"Me and Alex, my fiancee now, she was my girlfriend at the time, we were at a Knicks playoff game, and I'm sitting there at the Garden," he 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?"
From student assistant to program operations
Accetta began working as a student assistant in the Alabama men's basketball office in 2015 while earning her degree in business management, which she completed in 2017. She then became director of basketball operations, a role she still held when Oats was named Alabama's head coach in March 2019.
Accetta continued working under Oats, handling budgets and scheduling for the team's coaching staff, until her departure in October 2022.
During their years working together, Oats was named SEC Coach of the Year for the 2020-21 season, and the Crimson Tide won the SEC tournament in 2021.
A big pay rise this year
This April, Oats signed a six-year contract extension to remain Alabama's head coach, a deal that also raised his salary to $7.25 million a year.
"I am blessed and honored for the opportunity to continue as the head coach of the men's basketball program at the University of Alabama," Oats said in a statement. "President Mohler, Chancellor Trant, the entire Board of Trustees and our athletics director Greg Byrne have been tremendously supportive and provided us the resources to compete for championships each and every year."
"We have enjoyed tremendous success during our seven years at Alabama, and we look forward to building on that for many years to come," he added.
