Nate Oats offers positive updates on Grant Nelson, Nick Pringle
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Alabama forward Grant Nelson exited the Crimson Tide’s 89-65 win over Arkansas State on Monday with a lower leg injury and did not return to the bench.
Following the game, head coach Nate Oats provided an update on Nelson.
“Really with the score at the time in the game, they decided to start treatment on him right away to try to get ready by Saturday,” Oats said. “He should be good to go Saturday, but it was a left leg injury that needed some treatment. They just started it with the way the score was at the time he went out.”
Before his second-half exit, Nelson recorded 12 points on 4-of-6 shooting, including 2-of-4 from three, in 16 minutes. He also had one rebound, two assists, one steal and one block.
Through eight games, Nelson has been Alabama’s third-leading scorer at 14.3 points per game and leads the team with 7.0 rebounds per contest and has 14 blocks on the season.
A key add from the transfer portal from North Dakota State, Nelson was named to the Naismith Trophy preseason watch list, which annually recognizes the top player in college basketball, and the Karl Malone Award watch list for the top power forward in Division I.
Pringle set to return from suspension
Alabama forward Nick Pringle did not play against Arkansas State due to being suspended for “conduct detrimental to the team.” However, the senior was at Coleman Coliseum and appears to be only set to miss one game, based on what Oats said after the 24-point victory.
“It’ll be good to get Nick back against Purdue,” Oats said. “He had a great practice yesterday. He’s back where he needs to be. I anticipate him playing a decent amount of minutes and we’re going to need our whole front line against Zach Edey. He seems to collect a lot of fouls on other teams’ front lines.”
Pringle played Alabama’s first seven games this year and started the first six contests. However, he was replaced in the lineup by West Virginia transfer Mohamed Wague in the last game against Clemson but still logged 21 minutes. The 6-foot-10, 230-pound senior is averaging 6.0 points and 4.4 rebounds per game while shooting 81 percent from the field.
Alabama will return to action on Saturday, Dec. 9, when it travels to Toronto to take on Purdue as part of the Hall of Fame Series. The contest will tip off at 12:30 p.m. CT on FOX.
Not a member, Alabama fans? Join BOL today!
Have you subscribed to BamaOnLine.com yet? You can sign up for ONE MONTH of premium access to our Alabama coverage for just $1! Be able to read all of BOL’s premium articles and nuggets covering Alabama sports and recruiting and also join thousands of other Crimson Tide fans around the globe on the BOL Round Table message board! CLICK HERE!
