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Alabama head coach Nate Oats singled out a South Carolina player following the Crimson Tide’s 74-47 win on Tuesday. Oats called Myles Stute out for comments made before the opening tip.
Stute is a newbie to the Gamecock roster, transferring over from Vanderbilt this offseason. In 15 games, he’d averaged 10.2 points per night to help his team get off to a surprising 13-1 start.
The Gamecocks’ only loss came to archrival Clemson, a team currently ranked in the top 20. South Carolina led that game deep into the second half before the Tigers pieced together a comeback.
Outside of that rivalry matchup, though, it had been all Ws in the win-loss column.
While the non-conference slate hasn’t been all that challenging, it was still a surprise to see Lamont Paris’s bunch tied for the top record entering SEC play.
The Gamecocks were a preseason pick to finish last in the conference by the media following an 11-21 season in 2022.
They notched wins over Virginia Tech, Notre Dame, and East Carolina before taking down Mississippi State in the SEC opener. The on-court success had Myles Stute riled up.
“I hope [the SEC is] ready for us,” Stute said when asked about entering conference play. “That’s my answer. I hope they’re ready for us.”
Alabama was.
Nate Oats singles out Myles Stute after Alabama win.
South Carolina’s success came to a screeching halt on Tuesday night as Alabama blew the brakes off the Gamecocks in Tuscaloosa. The Tide entered the halftime break with a slight 30-29 lead but would outscore South Carolina 44-18 in the final 20 minutes.
After the game, Nate Oats had Stute’s comments on his mind.
“I think Myles Stute made the comment that the SEC wasn’t ready for South Carolina,” the head coach said. “We made sure we played for our guys. We made the point that we’ve been the team that’s been winning the SEC here lately, not South Carolina.”
Stute struggled in the matchup, failing to score on 0-3 shooting. He managed three rebounds and two assists in 29 minutes of action.
With the loss, the Gamecocks fell to 13-2 on the year and 1-1 in the SEC. Alabama, meanwhile, moved to 10-5 with a perfect 2-0 start in the conference.