Grant Nelson will be questionable for the opening round of March Madness as Alabama men’s basketball prepares to face Robert Morris in the NCAA Tournament, Nate Oats said Monday.
“We need to get him healthy,” Oats said on his Hey Coach radio show. “Not sure he will be ready by Friday. We’re hoping at a minimum he’ll be ready by Sunday with the possibility of maybe Friday. Thought he played really well. We dodged one. It wasn’t anything too serious with his knee but for sure will be questionable for that first game Friday.”
Nelson saw a knee specialist Monday. He sustained an injury to his left knee in the first half of the SEC Tournament semifinal game against Florida on Saturday.
No. 2 seed Alabama will face No. 15 seed Robert Morris on Friday (11:30 a.m. CT, TruTV) in Cleveland in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The winner will advance to play Sunday against Vanderbilt or Saint Mary’s.
Nelson has the ability to be an x-factor for the Crimson Tide in the NCAA Tournament. He showed that against Florida prior to exiting the game; He scored nine points, including a triple, grabbed three rebounds, tallied one assist, one block and one steal over 10 minutes of play.
“It would be nice to have Grant playing like he did in the first half against Florida,” Oats said.
When Nelson left the game, Alabama was going back-and-forth with Florida. The Gators, who ended up winning the SEC Tournament, only had a two-point advantage at halftime. Without Nelson playing for Alabama, Florida went on to win 104-82.
“We were right in the game until he went out,” Oats said Saturday. “I thought with the guys we had in the second half, we still should have been able to stay in the game, make a run at trying to get the win without him. Obviously a lot tougher without him, especially with the way he was playing to start the game out.”
Nick Kelly is an Alabama beat writer for AL.com and the Alabama Media Group. Follow him on X and Instagram.
