Ryan Pannone left the Alabama men’s basketball staff in late March to become head coach at Arkansas State, but Nate Oats has yet to replace him.

Speaking to reporters prior to playing in the Regions Tradition Celebrity Pro-Am golf tournament at Greystone in Birmingham on Wednesday, Oats said he hopes to have a new assistant in place soon.

“I’m still in the process of hiring an assistant coach to replace Pannone,” Oats said. “I’ve had some good interviews. We should be wrapping that up hopefully by the end of the week here. That’s been a priority.”

The 40-year-old Pannone was on Oats’ staff for two years and replaced another former Alabama assistant, Bryan Hodgson, with the Red Wolves. Hodgson left Arkansas State in March after two seasons to become head coach at South Florida.

Oats’ other two full-time assistants — Preston Murphy and Brian Adams — remain on staff at Alabama, as does director of basketball operations Josh Pierre.