Alabama 'should be healthy' for UConn game, Nate Oats says
GLENDALE, Ariz. – Alabama on Friday held its final practice before the Final Four matchup with UConn, and the Crimson Tide appears to be healthy entering the Saturday showdown.
“Had a good practice yesterday. We made it through injury-free, so I think as long as we can get through today’s practice injury-free, we should be healthy for the first time in a while,” said Nate Oats before his team took the court at State Farm Stadium.
“We’re going to need to be healthy. Going to need to use our depth against UConn.”
Alabama, of course, be without redshirt freshman guard Davin Cosby, who has been sidelined by a broken foot, but Oats’ comments suggest that senior guard Latrell Wrightsell will play after missing the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight matchups due to a lingering head injury.
Oats later told CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein that Wrightsell will be available against UConn.
Wrightsell suffered a head injury in the first half of the Crimson Tide’s second-round game with Grand Canyon on Sunday, March 23. After missing wins over North Carolina and Clemson, the senior returned to practice on Tuesday as Alabama held its final on-campus workout of the season before flying to Phoenix. Wrightsell has practiced every day since.
In the locker room before Friday’s 50-minute shootaround, Wrightsell said he feels “100 percent” and having to miss two tournament games in Los Angeles motivated him “a lot.”
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“They told me I wasn’t gonna be able to play again this season, so being able to play is just surreal to me because I wasn’t supposed to play and I’m back feeling 100 percent really quick,” Wrightsell said. “I just thank God for that.
“It’s felt like it’s been a long time. I felt like I was never gonna get over this. I felt like it was gonna take forever for me to even get to play. Just being able to be in this locker room, they didn’t even let me come to the locker room sometimes because I had so many headaches. I feel so much better.”
Wrightsell will go through concussion testing, but all signs point to the senior playing again.
“I have a test every morning,” Wrightsell said. “Even after practice, I have a test. Every time we do physical activity, I have tests just to see where my mind is at, and I feel like I’m ready to go.”
Alabama will face No. 1 overall seed UConn in the Tide’s first Final Four berth on Saturday, April 6, at State Farm Stadium. It will tip off at roughly 7:49 p.m. CT on TBS/TNT/truTV.
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