Alabama basketball’s Grant Nelson makes surprise appearance on injury report before Florida

Despite Alabama basketball coach Nate Oats saying the Crimson Tide’s seniors would be good to go for Florida, forward Grant Nelson made an appearance on the injury report Tuesday.

Nelson was listed as questionable on the SEC availability report for Wednesday’s game against the No. 5 Gators, set to tip off at 6 p.m. CT in Coleman Coliseum.

“We do need Grant to be a little more aggressive and a little bit more efficient in his minutes. His turnovers, some games, he’s been a little inconsistent with taking care of the ball, so he has to take care of ball a little bit better, too,” Oats said ahead of Saturday’s loss at Tennessee.

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Alabama basketball’s Grant Nelson makes unexpected appearance on injury report before Florida game

Nelson was listed as probable ahead of Feb. 23’s Mississippi State game, but entered the game for 24 minutes. He contributed six points, seven rebounds, two assists and a steal against the Bulldogs before a lackluster performance Saturday against Tennessee that was bolstered by a team-high 12 rebounds.

In the days before the Tennessee game, Oats mentioned Nelson had suffered a shin bruise, and the North Dakota State transfer took another hard fall over the weekend in Knoxville, landing on his hip.

With Nelson or not, Alabama will play Florida at 6 p.m. Saturday at Coleman Coliseum. The game will be aired on ESPN2, which can be streamed on ESPN+ and Fubo.

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Emilee Smarr covers Alabama basketball and Crimson Tide athletics for the Tuscaloosa News. She can be reached via email at esmarr@gannett.com.