Alabama Basketball: Braxton Key Nearing Return to Tide
By Mike Parham
Last season’s leading scorer and SEC All-Freshman Team selection, Braxton Key, should be returning to the Alabama Basketball team soon
During a recent interview, Alabama basketball coach Avery Johnson hinted at the possible return of sophomore forward Braxton Key. For the Tide, the return of a player like Key could give the team a much-needed offensive boost.
Last season, Key led the Tide in points with 12.0 per game. This season, he’s expected to play a key role in a high-powered offense that features talented freshmen Colin Sexton and John Petty.
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However, Tide hoops fans haven’t gotten to see the high-powered offense featuring Key this season due to injury. Key has missed all of Alabama’s games after undergoing surgery to repair an injured meniscus he sustained during the preseason.
There is a positive here though. Key has been practicing with the team and, according to coach Johnson, could possibly be back when the Tide plays Mercer.
He will miss the Arizona game, but getting a player of his caliber back a couple of games before conference play could be crucial. Tide players know how vital Key is to the success of this team, especially swingman Herbert Jones:
"“He’s a big piece to our team, and he’s a leader on the floor and off the floor. But when he gets back we’ll be pretty good. We’ll be a lot better than what we are now.”"
Like Riley Norris, Key is expected to add a spark to Alabama’s offense. An offense that can get stagnant at the end of close games.
With Key’s return, Alabama basketball fans should have double the excitement. Not only because of the injury, but also because of his decision to return to Tuscaloosa and not remain in the NBA draft. Key waited until one day before the deadline to withdraw his name from the Draft.
When asked how he feels about Key’s progression and a possible timetable for his return, coach Johnson went with his gut:
"“My gut tells me that we’ll probably get through that game without him, and we’ll have four or five practices before we play that game against Mercer in Huntsville and he should be good to go for that. But we’ll just let his body talk to us, we’ll see how he feels”"
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Braxton Key’s return would be great for this young Alabama basketball team. Right now they seem to rely too much on Collin Sexton and Dazon Ingram down the stretch. It will be exciting to see how Avery Johnson experiments with the lineups moving forward.