Oats “Hopeful” for Full Tide Lineup on Friday

Nate Oats began speaking roughly 45 minutes later than usual and mentioned that practice went longer than usual. Oats was immediately asked about Rylan Griffen, who left the Florida loss in Gainesville with a lower leg injury. He was then seen in street clothes and a boot during the Arkansas game.

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Oats, "Rylan has not gone live yet, but he's doing more and more basketball activity every day. We're hopeful he could possibly play Friday."

Oats said Griffen will probably be a game-time decision on Friday. Oats mentioned that having both Wrightsell and Griffen in the lineup takes a lot of pressure off Mark Sears and Aaron Estrada.

He's not wrong. With Griffen and/or Wrightsell out of the lineup, Sears and Estrada are playing considerably more minutes, with Sears playing almost the full game, 40 minutes, in most of the contests Wrightsell missed.

The double-bye was crucial for Alabama. It's allowed them to practice at a high level. According to Oats, freshman Jarin Stevenson has had, "as good a practice as he's ever had this week." Mo Dioubate has 'dominated' portions of practice this week as well.

Nick Pringle faced two suspensions this season. Oats has sung a different tune since Pringle returned from the second one. On Wednesday, he called Pringle one of Alabama's most vocal leaders. "He’s been one of our best, more vocal leaders. He’s obviously willing to, eager to speak up. We need him saying the right things, doing the right things, and he’s been doing that.”

Pringle called Alabama's SEC Tournament lineup a 'get back' tour, with Alabama likely having to play Florida, Kentucky, and one of Tennessee or Auburn if the Tide are to win their third SEC Tournament Championship under Nate Oats.

The SEC Men's Basketball Tournament tips off Wednesday night with Vanderbilt and Arkansas. Following that game, Georgia and Missouri will tip-off. Alabama will play one of Missouri, Georgia, or Florida in their first game on Friday night.

Here's what the SEC Men's Basketball Tournament bracket looks like, courtesy of the SEC.

Tide 100.9 will be in Nashville for coverage of the SEC Men's Basketball Tournament. Coverage is sponsored by the Sportsbook at Pearl River Resort. Located at Golden Moon Hotel & Casino, they offer traditional sports betting in which guests can bet on all professional league sports and major collegiate sporting events.