Why Alabama freshman Aiden Sherrell did not play vs. Auburn

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – For the first time this season, Alabama freshman Aiden Sherrell did not see the court for the Crimson Tide. Nate Oats played nine scholarship players in Alabama’s loss to top-ranked Auburn last weekend, but the 6-foot-10 big man wasn’t one of them.

On Tuesday, ahead of the Crimson Tide’s road trip to No. 15 Missouri, Oats was asked why.

“They had the two bigs that started, so we thought it may be a game he could play,” Oats said. “(Dylan) Cardwell got in foul trouble, which limited a lot of his minutes in the first half. I didn’t think Cliff (Omoruyi) necessarily was great early. Have up the two 3s, and (Johni) Broome got off to a great start. We brought Mo (Dioubate) in. 

“Mo D’s been a little bit of a spark plug. He hit two 3s; Mo D’s a better matchup to guard Broome on the perimeter. And after Cardwell picked the two fouls up, they weren’t as big as we initially thought they’d be, particularly in the first half.

“Then with Mo D doing a good job and then Cliff did a really good job on him after he came back in after the first stint, we kind of just went back and forth between Cliff and Mo D, who I thought were doing a great job, and then they didn’t play two bigs as much as we thought they would, and it kind of shook out that way.

“It had nothing to do with the way Aiden’s been playing because I think he’s been playing much better basketball. I did feel bad. We tried to win the game, and I thought we went with guys who were working. I would anticipate Aiden getting minutes in the first half here against Missouri and seeing where that goes from there.”

Before the Iron Bowl of Basketball, Sherrell had played in Alabama’s first 24 games of the year. The freshman is averaging 2.8 points and 2.8 rebounds in 7.9 minutes per game while shooting 42.4% from the floor. His shooting percentage is low because the big man has attempted 27 3s as a rookie, making six of them. But he is 3-for-8 from deep in SEC play.

After his first absence of the year, however, Sherrell didn’t hang his head. In fact, Oats praised his approach to practice after the Auburn loss as Alabama turns the page to Mizzou.

“I love the kid,” Oats said. “I actually praised him a lot in video this morning because for a kid to not play in a game for the first time all year – and Mo D had multiple games where he didn’t play last year, and I thought his attitude stayed great. It’s well known, everybody in here would agree, we don’t make a Final Four run without what he did in the NCAA Tournament.

“So Mo’s attitude to stay as well as it did last year to come in and help us make a Final Four run for the first time in school history, Aiden Sherrell’s attitude in practice yesterday – I told you we have practice MVP voting. There’s only two guys that got practice MVP votes from the team yesterday, and it was Grant (Nelson) and Aiden Sherrell. 

“So for him to come back and practice as hard, with as good an attitude as he did, when a lot of guys would have been immature, pouted, he’s not that.”

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 $11.99! 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!