Transfer guard Latrell Wrightsell is perhaps the X-factor for Alabama basketball this season. He played in seven of Alabama’s nine losses and averaged just 3.6 points per game in those contests.
In the 19 wins he played in this season, Wrightsell is averaging 11 points per game. Fifth-year Alabama coach Nate Oats believes Alabama would be SEC Champions if it wasn’t for the head injury that sidelines Wrightsell for four games in SEC play.
“We would have a league championship if he hadn’t gone down,” Oats said following Alabama’s regular season finale win over Arkansas on Saturday. “That’s some of the adversity we’ve got to play through. We didn’t win a league championship. So let’s get ourselves back together, and let’s compete for a tournament championship.”
The claims seemed outlandish when Oats made it but when Tennessee dropped its regular season finale against Kentucky just a few hours later the statement sounded more plausible.
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Alabama went 2-2 in the four games Wrightsell missed, falling in blowout fashion at Kentucky and 81-74 against Tennessee in Tuscaloosa. The Cal State Fullerton transfer also played just eight minutes in his return to the court in a 105-87 loss at Florida.
With Alabama losing in blowout fashion against Kentucky and Florida, Oats seems to be claiming that the Crimson Tide would have beaten Tennessee if Wrightsell was available.
In 14 SEC games, Wrightsell averaged 11.4 points on an incredibly impressive 44% shooting from three-point range while also adding 3.5 rebounds per game.
Tennessee basketball won the regular season SEC Championship outright with a 14-4 record while Alabama, Kentucky, Auburn and South Carolina were locked in with a four-way tie for second place.
The Vols are the top-seed in this week’s SEC Tournament in Nashville where they’ll look to follow up their regular season title with a tournament title. Alabama is the three-seed in the event so the two teams won’t collide unless they each advance to the championship game.
One Response
my sweet mother used to say if a frog had wings he wouldn’t bump his butt on the ground when he jumped. get over it already