Alabama basketball guard leaves Oregon game with non-contact injury

Alabama guard Latrell Wrightsell Jr. suffered a non-contact lower leg injury early in the second half of the Crimson Tide’s Players Era Festival Championship match against Oregon on Saturday night.

Wrightsell lay there for a while, unable to walk to the locker room because he had to rely on two trainers to guide him with his arms on their shoulders.

About 10 minutes after the injury occurred, CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein reported that Wrightsell had been diagnosed with a lower leg injury and it was doubtful whether he would return to the game.

The 1.90 meter tall guard is averaging 11.7 points per game this season with extremely efficient shooting numbers: 49 percent from the field and 41.5 percent from downtown. Entering Saturday night, Wrightsell led Alabama 17-7 in three games this season.

Wrightsell averaged 8.9 points and 1.1 steals in about 23.6 minutes per game for the Crimson Tide last season. He was always Alabama’s sixth man alongside outgoing South Carolina transfer forward Nick Pringle while the two rotated as starters. Wrightsell also suffered multiple head injuries during the 2023-24 season, causing him to miss six games, including an early exit in Alabama’s Round of 32 of the NCAA Tournament.

Alabama received high praise before the season as it finished second in the AP poll – its highest preseason ranking in school history. This is a big reason why Wrightsell returned to the Crimson Tide for another season.

“We know that we are really talented and that we have a chip on our shoulder to do something that has never been done before,” Wrightsell said during SEC Media Day. Just winning a national championship and bringing something back to Alabama. ”

“We expect to try to win four championships: the Players Era Festival, the SEC regular season, the SEC Tournament and the National Championship. These are the expectations. We don’t really pay attention to the numbers, we just mainly win every game every day. Win the day. We’re not really worried about next week, tomorrow and the day after.”

This story will be updated.