Nate Oats’ wife is now Alex Accetta after the Alabama basketball coach married the former Crimson Tide staff member last weekend. The news surfaced publicly on Sunday, July 26, when Brian Adams posted congratulations and Jocelyn shared wedding photos on her Instagram Story.
Jocelyn Shares the Wedding
Brian Adams wrote, “Congrats @alex_accetta & @nateoats #RollTide” on Sunday, July 26, giving the first public nod to the marriage. Jocelyn followed with her own Instagram Story and three black-and-white photos of Nate Oats and Alex Accetta with her and Lexie, adding, “Most beautiful night 💍🥂”.
The wedding brought the family into the public frame rather than a formal program announcement. Jocelyn’s post made the event feel personal and immediate, with the couple photographed alongside two of Oats’ daughters instead of in a staged release.
From Alabama Staff to Dallas
Alex Accetta worked for the Alabama athletics department from 2015 until 2022, then took a job with the Dallas Mavericks in 2022. Nate Oats kept her on staff as the director of basketball operations after he came to Tuscaloosa from the University at Buffalo in 2019, so the marriage also closes the loop on a relationship that moved from the Alabama office to Oats’ home life.
Oats first revealed the engagement in April during an appearance on Sirius XM, saying, “Me and Alex — my fiancée now, she was my girlfriend at the time — we were at a Knicks playoff game, and I'm sitting there at [Madison Square] Garden” and, “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?” The line matters because it showed the relationship had already been in motion before the weekend wedding became public.
After 26 Years With Crystal
Nate Oats and Crystal quietly divorced in 2023 after 26 years of marriage, and they share daughters Lexie, Jocelyn, and Brielle. Crystal was diagnosed with double hit lymphoma in 2015 and was declared cancer-free in 2016, a longer family history that makes this remarriage more than a simple personal update.
For Alabama, the practical takeaway is straightforward: the program’s coach now enters the next stretch of his career with a public family change already in view, and the social posts put the wedding on the record before any formal team announcement. Oats has already been through one major personal transition in private; this one reached the public in the way modern college sports often does, through family posts first and everything else later.
