Nate Oats shares injury update on Latrell Wrightsell, confirms he practiced Tuesday
Alabama was playing for more than a Final Four spot on Saturday. Head coach Nate Oats admitted his team wanted to go out there a win to get Latrell Wrightsell another game this season. Wrightsell missed a key stretch in the regular season and then a couple of tournament games due to a head injury. The hope was he would be healthy enough to play in Phoenix if the Crimson Tide got there.
Step one was getting back on the practice court, something Wrightsell accomplished on Tuesday. The guard is still not fully cleared but is slowly making progress. Alabama will play out West soon and by the time the ball is tipped against UConn, Oats is hopeful Wrightsell will be ready to play.
“Today was the first day Wrightsell was able to practice,” Oats said. “He was limited in what he could do but glad he was out there. He’s got day-to-day evaluations. Based on how tomorrow morning’s evaluation goes, we’ll see where he goes the rest of the week. Our hopes are that he’s going to play on Saturday.”
Wrightsell last played in the second-round against Grand Canyon, scoring just two points in 11 minutes. Getting hit in the head near the Alabama bench kept him on the ground before quickly being ruled out in the first-half.
Oats has to be ready to get his team’s best three-point shooter back out there. Wrightsell is good ford 9.0 points per game but shoots 44.3% on an average of five attempts from deep every time out there.
Nick Pringle battling through injury for Alabama
Wrightsell is not the only Alabama player currently dealing with an issue. Nick Pringle has felt discomfort in his foot/heel throughout the NCAA Tournament but has been able to play through. His status is unchanged heading into the Final Four.
“He’s playing,” Oats said. “He’s tough. Kind of gone through this foot injury that he’s had. I thought he looked pretty good in practice today. So, nobody is going to be 100% this time of the year. Some guys are just more banged up than others at this point.”
Pringle is going to be a key piece for Alabama against UConn, playing the five and likely defending Donovan Clingan at times. While he will not be completely healthy, Pringle will tough it out for at least one more game.