Alabama basketball has been a little banged up in the early season. In last night's 105-72 win over Maryland, Nate Oats only had nine healthy scholarship players at his disposal for the final night of the Players Era Festival.
Alabama came to Las Vegas with known injuries to Jalil Bethea (toe) and Collins Onyejiaka (medical condition). It left with additional injuries to Latrell Wrightsell and Keitenn Bristow.
Wrightsell was held out of all three games with a lower-body injury. Bristow played against Gonzaga and UNLV before he was seen in a walking boot last night during the game against UNLV. The injuries are piling up for Alabama just seven games into the season.
Following last night's win, Oats was asked about Wrightsell and Bristow, and updated their status.
“Trelly’s coming," Oats said. "He’s hoping to play next week. That’s gonna be determined by Clarke, our trainer, and how he comes along. And then Keitenn sustained a right leg injury in the second game, the UNLV game. He kind of came out. And we’re gonna get him evaluated when we get back, get an MRI Friday when we get back, and see where all that all stands. So, hopefully he’s able to play against Clemson, but we won’t know till we get an MRI when we get back.”
Nate Oats is hopeful Wrightsell and Bristow can play against Clemson
Prior to the opening game against Gonzaga in Las Vegas, Oats discussed that Wrightsell sitting out was more of a precautionary measure. Wrightsell missed the majority of last season after tearing his Achilles tendon in this same tournament. They are going to be cautious with him due to his injury past.
Bristow missed the first three games of the season with an ankle injury and immediately made his presence known in the three games he played. He made a real difference right away in the Crimson Tide's win in Chicago against Illinois. His injury and effort on the glass have been a big positive for this team. Hopefully, his MRI is clean, and he's able to get back on the court quickly.
Alabama is off to an impressive 5-2 start with some quality wins and losses only to two of the best teams in the country. That's in spite of the Crimson Tide not being full strength for a single game this season so far.
They should get close to that pretty soon. Wrightsell and Bristow shouldn't be out long, and Bethea appears to be ramping up for his Crimson Tide debut.