Alabama Basketball Forward Unlikely to Play Against South Carolina

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - The Alabama Crimson Tide will look to extend its three-game conference play win streak on Saturday, welcoming in the South Carolina Gamecocks in front of a sold-out Coleman Coliseum crowd. However, the Tide still is not close to 100% strength, as Alabama has dealt with nagging injuries to several star players, including Labaron Philon and Aden Holloway, this season. Alabama will likely be without another starter on Saturday, with head coach Nate Oats questioning the status of Florida State transfer forward Taylor Bol Bowen ahead of the matchup with the Gamecocks on Saturday.

Get our free mobile app

"Respect Taylor [Bol Bowen] a ton, but you can tell he's not close to 100 percent," Oats said on Friday. "Just trying to tough it out for his teammates. We sat him out of practice today, trying to get him a little better. "

Bol Bowen, a 6-foot-10, 202-pound forward from Jericho, Vermont, has appeared in 20 of the Crimson Tide's 24 games this season with 11 starts, averaging 7.2 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 1.1 blocks per game on 21.1 minutes per game. He's averaging 40.7% shooting from the floor and 29.6% shooting from three-point range.

"If he doesn't feel significantly better tomorrow - I guess he'll be listed as 'questionable' or 'doubtful' tonight - we gotta get him back to where he's flying around. I think Clarke [Holter] did a really good job with some of our other guys. You know, [Latrell] Wrightsell sat there for a few weeks, missed a few games, and he's playing the best basketball he's maybe ever played here. I think he's 24 of his last 48 from three. He just hit seven threes in a game again - the 19th time a player here has hit at least seven threes in a game; first time Trelly's has three plus games where he scored 20+ points...

"Taylor's been hurt and really just trying to give us anything he possibly can to help us win games," Oats continued. "I can't say enough about how great Taylor's been; he just hasn't been healthy. Taylor doesn't really care about his starts; he comes off the bench."

The Crimson Tide will take on the South Carolina Gamecocks on Saturday, February 14, at 7:30 p.m. CT.

Wyatt Fulton is the Tide 100.9 DME and Brand Manager, primarily covering Alabama Crimson Tide football and men's basketball. For more Crimson Tide coverage, follow Wyatt on X (Formerly known as Twitter) at @FultonW_.