Nate Oats met with reporters on Thursday ahead of Friday’s Round of 64 matchup between the Crimson Tide and 15-seed Robert Morris to, among other items, update the status for star forward Grant Nelson.
Nelson, a stretch 5 who fuels Alabama’s offense inside, suffered an injury during Alabama’s SEC semifinal matchup against Florida. According to Oats, Nelson is day-to-day, still doing workouts and did not participate in Thursday’s morning practice.
Here’s Oats’ full comments on Nelson’s injury status:
“Yeah. Our trainers are saying he’s day-to-day. Just yesterday, he started doing basketball, still workouts. He did not go in our live play and practice today,” Oats said. “Grant wants to play. He’s a competitor. He played great in the NCAA Tournament last year. It’ll end up being a game time decision based on what he feels like in the morning, but if he does end up playing, he won’t have practiced anything live up until then.”
Oats continued: “I think it’s looking a little better, obviously, for Sunday than maybe Friday, but there’s a chance he could play. They’re going to wait to make a decision and see what it looks like tomorrow morning.”
Whatever Alabama decides to do with Nelson, they’ll have their hands full with Robert Morris. The Colonials won a very competitive Horizon league and boast an impressive presence near the glass. The Tide have too much firepower, but Robert Morris definitely isn’t a 15-seed you can just walk by.
Friday’s matchup is set for 12:40 p.m. ET from Cleveland, Ohio.
Ethan Stone is a Tennessee graduate and loves all things college football and college basketball. Firm believer in fouling while up 3.
