About three weeks ago, a new set of plays arrived on Nate Oats’ play sheet — the off-road package.

The plays are specifically designed for one player on offense: Mouhamed Dioubate.

“It’s kind of like smash mouth, not typically the way we play,” Oats said. “But it’s there. We’ve got it in.”

It’s different but effective. Dioubate, a sophomore forward, can do more than play a supporting role on offense for Alabama men’s basketball. He has the potential to be one of the main characters.

He proved that Tuesday against Vanderbilt. He scored 22 points, a career best for him and tied for a game high, as No. 4 Alabama beat the Commodores 103-87 at Coleman Coliseum.

And it might not be an outlier. Don’t expect 22 points every night, but don’t be surprised to see his role on offense continue to grow.

“Coach, he told me to be more aggressive when I get the ball,” Dioubate said. “He’s given me a little more leeway to go score the ball, so you should be seeing that more … hopefully.”

He’s never been known for his scoring or shooting. Dioubate is, after all, ninth in the rotation in points per game with 4.7. Only Aiden Sherrell averages fewer among players seeing regular time in the rotation. Defense and blue-collar points have been Dioubate’s foundation for getting minutes. He’s the posterchild for blue-collar basketball. But now he might have earned the opportunity to see more chances to score.

Oats said Dioubate has always had the leeway to score, but now Dioubate has more experience.

“He just needed to learn how to do it with the correct spacing when the opportunities are there,” Oats said. “You can’t put your head down and drive into crowds and expect anything good to happen.”

Good things happened for Dioubate against the Commodores, though. And that wasn’t the first time — just the easiest to spot. He tallied eight points in 15 minutes against Kentucky this past Saturday. Dioubate also stood out a few weeks back outside of a game setting.

“He was killing everybody in practice one day,” Oats said. “Nobody could guard him.”

That day, Dioubate was too quick for the bigs and too strong for the guards, outside of maybe Chris Youngblood. Even he struggled some to defend Dioubate, Oats said.

The next day, Oats came in with six new plays for Dioubate. That’s what became known as the offroad package.

Alabama (16-3, 5-1 SEC) didn’t call much for Dioubate against Vanderbilt, and yet he scored 22 points in 23 minutes. There was one play in transition, however, where Oats wanted Dioubate to be the guy. Oats saw a mismatch and made clear to Dioubate he wanted him to take advantage.

Just go beast mode. Go score.

So Dioubate did. That time, and many others Tuesday.

Dioubate is going to have opportunities and open looks. Guards such as Mark Sears and Aden Holloway can score at a high clip and draw away the attention of defenses. Labaron Philon has the ability to do that as well.

The attention Alabama’s backcourt requires will almost certainly open things up for Dioubate at times. From there, if the Vanderbilt game is any indication, get ready to see Dioubate do smmore off-roading.

Nick Kelly is an Alabama beat writer for AL.com and the Alabama Media Group. Follow him on X and Instagram.