{"id":512042,"date":"2026-01-02T16:17:13","date_gmt":"2026-01-02T16:17:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/512042\/"},"modified":"2026-01-02T16:17:13","modified_gmt":"2026-01-02T16:17:13","slug":"want-toughness-nate-oats-recruit-a-guy-like-mo-dioubate-who-is-also-the-best-trash-talker-in-the-sec","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/512042\/","title":{"rendered":"Want toughness? Nate Oats: ‘Recruit a guy like Mo Dioubate’ – who is also the best trash talker in the SEC"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mark Pope<\/a> didn\u2019t spend a pretty penny to steal Mo Dioubate <\/a>away from Nate Oats and the Alabama Crimson Tide <\/a>because he shot 46.2 percent from three on low volume as a plug-and-play stretch four. When he fires away, you\u2019re hopeful, not confident \u2014 but anything he gives you from the perimeter is icing on the cake compared to everything else he brings to the table as a basketball player.<\/p>\n

The junior forward is averaging 12.3 points, 6.4 rebounds, 1.5 steals and 1.1 blocks \u2014 all career-highs \u2014 but the eye test tells you he\u2019s far more valuable than anything a box score can. It\u2019s the fight and hustle, his ability to do the punking rather than getting punked, something Pope\u2019s Wildcats learned all too well last season.<\/p>\n

You brought him in to do to Alabama what Alabama did to Kentucky<\/a> three times in 2024-25.<\/p>\n

Coming off a 21-point December loss to Arizona and a shaky 11-point home win over five-loss South Florida in which the Tide gave up 93 points, Oats was asked about his team\u2019s toughness and how you fix some of those issues. His response? Well, you do what Coach Pope did in Lexington.<\/p>\n

\u201cRecruit a guy like Mo Dioubate in \u2014 you didn\u2019t really have to coach him to be tough. He was tough. That\u2019s who he is,\u201d Oats said. <\/a>\u201cCertain coaches and teams always tend to be a little tougher, so there is definitely some coachability to it. If it\u2019s one of those deals where you\u2019re rating the toughness factor from zero to ten, I don\u2019t think you\u2019re taking a guy who starts at a one and moving him to a ten. You can move a guy who is a four or a five and get him to a seven or eight. <\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe you can take a guy who is an eight and move him up to a ten, but you\u2019re not taking a guy who is inherently soft and making him the toughest dude on the court. You gotta have some fight and determination, toughness and some grit about you. As a coach, I can try to demand it, but you have to want to do it and it\u2019s gotta be who you are.\u201d<\/p>\n

Alabama HC Nate Oats was discussing his current team\u2019s \u201ctoughness\u201d and how they need to improve on it over the next few weeks, then mentions (now) UK\u2019s Mo Dioubate was tough.<\/p>\n

\u201cRecruit a guy like Mo Dioubate in and you didn\u2019t really have to coach him to be tough. He was tough.\u201d pic.twitter.com\/a23NiATCCh<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Tres Terrell (@TerrellTres) December 18, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n

In eight viewing opportunities with Dioubate on the floor \u2014 even in ranked losses to Louisville and Michigan State \u2014 not once has the word \u2018soft\u2019 crossed the mind. In fact, his presence was sorely missed in back-to-back losses vs. North Carolina and Gonzaga when effort and heart were seriously questioned with this group.<\/p>\n

Then he returned against Indiana and St. John\u2019s and helped flip the season around. That\u2019s simply what the 6-7, 220-pound Swiss Army knife out of Queens does.<\/p>\n

Did you know he\u2019s also the biggest trash talker in the SEC?<\/p>\n

Taking the podium at SEC Media Days in Birmingham back in October, a reporter asked Preseason First-Team All-SEC guard Labaron Philon to share his take on the league\u2019s best trash talker entering the season.<\/p>\n

It took him no time to pull out the obvious answer, someone he saw plenty during their time together in Tuscaloosa.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe biggest trash talker? I\u2019d say my former teammate Mo Dioubate, from all of our old practices,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Philon averaged 10.6 points, 3.8 assists, 3.3 rebounds and 1.4 steals per contest as a freshman while Dioubate was a sophomore with the Tide, the latter adding 7.2 points, 5.9 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game.<\/p>\n

Now, they\u2019ll be facing off on the big stage when the Wildcats walk into Coleman Coliseum to open SEC play on Saturday, Kentucky certainly having its hands full with Philon emerging as a clear All-American candidate, averaging a team-high 21.9 points, 5.6 assists, 3.6 rebounds and 1.4 steals per outing.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s gonna be fun,\u201d Philon told KSR of taking on Dioubate. \u201cThey\u2019re our first game after getting done with the non-conference and going into conference play. It\u2019s gonna be really fun knowing how hard he competes and how much he loves the game. Just seeing him there, keeping in touch with him, it\u2019s been a really big thing for me, because I like keeping in touch with all of my teammates.\u201d<\/p>\n

Philon went three for three against Kentucky last season, scoring 15 points with four rebounds and four assists in a 102-97 win in Lexington, followed by seven points, three assists, two rebounds and two steals in the 96-83 victory in Tuscaloosa to take the regular season sweep. He saved his best for last in the SEC Tournament, though, going for 21 points, four assists, three rebounds and three steals in a 99-70 blowout.<\/p>\n

What was the difference against the Wildcats last season?<\/p>\n

\u201cCoaching \u2014 Coach Oats really knows what he\u2019s doing. Coaching and preparing,\u201d Philon said. \u201cThey say it\u2019s hard to beat a team twice, and three times is really, really hard. Each game we just had to focus. The first game, we played them at their crib, and it was a crazy environment, a packed-out game. <\/p>\n

\u201cThey came to us and we got a chance to play them again, and we proved that we focus on every opponent and never overlook any game.\u201d<\/p>\n

The first rematch takes place on Saturday, January 3 at Noon ET, live on ESPN. Will Dioubate be the difference taking on his old friends?<\/p>\n