Amid the trove of calls Nick Saban received following his retirement, one came with a request. As Nate Oats congratulated the seven-time national champion, he asked his now-former coworker when he’d be back in Tuscaloosa.

Nearly a month later, Saban was in town and stopped by Coleman Coliseum, once again offering advice to Alabama athletes. On Feb. 16, after a golf-filled month in Florida, Saban spoke to UA’s men’s basketball team.

“He is, to me, maybe the best team coach of any team sport in modern college sports history, and he’s right here,” Oats said Saturday following No. 15 Alabama’s win over Texas A&M. ” … This was in the window. We kind of had a week off between games, and I thought it’d be good for our guys to hear from a respected coach like him on what it took to win. He was great.”

According to players, Saban admitted while he doesn’t know much about basketball, there’s a universal cost to greatness that those seeking have to accept. Saban referenced Kobe Bryant’s talk to the Tide football team in 2018. Basketball transfer Latrell Wrightsell Jr. found meaning in the line “Being a beast” and the work that comes with it.

Wrightsell helped spark UA in the second half of its 25-point win with 16 points in the second half. In attendance were former players, most of the 2003-04 Elite 8 team — honored in a halftime ceremony — and Saban along with Terry Saban, seated on a riser near the home sidelines.

“He just said, like, ‘What do you want to do to get to where you want to go?’ When he speaks, you just take everything in because he’s a legend, a living legend. So you just take everything he says and apply it to your own personal life,” guard Rylan Griffen said. “He talked about building better habits, being disciplined and stuff like that. The same stuff he’s always really talked about, but it’s just whenever it’s in front of your face, you take it in more and you take it a lot more seriously.”

Oats mentioned how much he got to learn from Saban since Oats arrived from Buffalo in 2019. Through five football seasons, Saban added another national championship trophy in 2020 and ended with a run to the Rose Bowl. Saban is confirmed to be getting an office in Bryant-Denny Stadium, allowing Oats, new football coach Kalen DeBoer and other coaches and administrators a chance to pick his brain.

Following his retirement on Jan. 10, Saban appeared at DeBoer’s introductory press conference. Saturday afternoon was a return to the public eye in Tuscaloosa and multiple fans approached Saban and his wife for photos and to express their gratitude for 17 dynastic seasons.

Nick Alvarez is a reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @nick_a_alvarez or email him at [email protected].