The Crimson Tide achieved the highest pinnacle ever for the school in both the NCAA Championship Tournament and the Associated Press Poll reaching the Elite Eight in the tournament in 2004 and reaching the No. 1 spot in the nation in the AP poll in 2002, both under Mark Gottfried's command. Gottfried led the Tide to its only SEC Championship under his watch during the 2001–02 season, although the team never won a conference tournament championship during his tenure. For his efforts in 2002, Gottfried was named SEC Coach of the Year by both the Associated Press and his fellow Southeastern Conference coaches. Perhaps his biggest accomplishment as coach at Alabama was leading the Crimson Tide to five consecutive NCAA tournaments from 2002–2006, another first for the school that occurred under his watch. Gottfried resigned on January 26, 2009 with 11 regular season games still remaining on the team's schedule. Then Athletic Director Mal Moore named long-time Alabama assistant and former player, Philip Pearson as interim head coach for the remainder of the 2008–09 season. On March 27, 2009 Anthony Grant agreed in principle to become the 20th Crimson Tide head men's basketball coach. Grant came to Alabama after serving as the head coach at VCU from 2006 to 2009. After a mediocre first season, Grant led the veteran 2010–11 team to a SEC West title and a 2nd-place finish in the 2011 NIT. The 2011–12 team endured the suspensions of several star players to finish with a 21–12 record and a berth in the 2012 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament, where they lost in the round of 64 to Creighton. This was the Crimson Tide's first trip to the NCAA Tournament since 2006. In March 2015, Grant was fired by Alabama after six seasons. Assistant coach John Brannen served as interim head coach for the 2015 NIT tournament. On April 5, 2015, Avery Johnson agreed to become Alabama's next head coach. The former NBA coach said he was attracted to the position because he perceived it as "a big challenge" in that Alabama is not a "perennial favorite" and has never won a championship before. Johnson's 2017–18 team finished with a 20–16 (8–10) record and was invited to the NCAA tournament. The next season, the Tide finished 18–16 (8–10) and Johnson was let go at the end of the campaign. On March 27, 2019, Nate Oats was named Alabama's next head coach. Oats was previously the coach for the Buffalo Bulls, and had led them to 3 NCAA tournament appearances in the past 4 years.