Nate Oats updates status of Jusaun Holt ahead of SEC tournament

A talk this weekend seems to have cleared up any lingering issues for Alabama freshman Jusaun Holt and Nate Oats. Holt is practicing with the team and will travel to Florida for the SEC tournament.

“I met with him yesterday, it was his birthday,” Oats told the media on Monday. “We had a good meeting, he’s back in practice. He’ll be making the trip to Tampa with us. I thought he was really good today.”

Holt did not play in Saturday’s 80-77 road loss against LSU. He also wasn’t with the team on the bench either. The 6-foot-6 guard has seen spot minutes on and off all season, but his future for the postseason seemed in doubt.

During his postgame press conference, Oats spoke about the developing off-the-court situation.

“Me and him are going to meet this weekend and figure out his status with the team moving forward,” said Oats as the audio cut in and out. “Internal issue. No, just, team issue.”

Holt has averaged 0.4 points and 1.6 rebounds in his freshman season, playing spot minutes in most of Alabama’s games but making an impact in others. Against Ole Miss in February, he appeared to give the coaching staff the boost it was seeking and played a career-high 26 minutes.

With the No. 6 seed for this week’s SEC tournament, the Crimson Tide awaits the winner between No. 14 Georgia and No. 11 Vanderbilt. They’ll play in the late window on Thursday, 25 minutes after the end of South Carolina-Mississippi State.

KenPom shares Alabama’s chances to win SEC tournament title

College basketball analytical guru Ken Pomeroy of KenPom.com has projected every team’s chances of winning the SEC Tournament this week.

According to KenPom, he gives No. 3 seeded Kentucky the best chance to win the conference tournament title at 30.7% and says the Wildcats have a 48.7% to make the championship game. The next closest favorite to win the SEC Tournament is top-seeded Auburn, which KenPom says has a 26.1% chance to capture the title and a 50.2% chance to make the championship game.

Alongside Kentucky and Auburn, KenPom projects No. 2 Tennessee to have the third-best chance to win the SEC Tournament championship. He estimates the Volunteers have a 20.3% chance to take home the trophy, 37.1% chance to make the championship game. The next closest team in KenPom’s projection is No. 4 Arkansas, which has just an 8.8% chance to capture the title.

The Alabama Crimson Tide has the sixth-best chance to win it all in Tampa Bay. KenPom predicts the reigning champs have a 3.2% chance to win the championship, an 8.0% chance to make the championship game, and a 19.5% chance to make the semifinals.

The Crimson Tide dropped their final two games of the regular season but could be a difficult out. They will likely run into Kentucky or Tennessee in the quarterfinals if they take care of their second-round opponent.