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Alabama Crimson Tide men's basketball fans' worst injury fears have been confirmed. Latrell Wrightsell ruptured his achilles tendon and will miss the remainder of the 2024-25 season, head coach Nate Oats announced on Tuesday. He will have surgery on Wednesday, December 4.
The news comes less than 24 hours after Wrightsell posted a message to Instagram indicating the might be done for the year. Under a photo of himself running onto the court, he wrote, “This one hurt… Trust ima be back. God’s Timing⏳ #Proverbs3:5-6.”
Wrightsell's injury occurred in the second half of the Crimson Tide's game against Oregon in the Player's Era Festival championship game. The senior fell to the ground after a three-point attempt and eventually headed to the Alabama locker room with an injury that looked in real time like it could be to his achilles.
Through eight games this season, the guard was averaging 11.5 points on 42% three-point shooting and 50% shooting overall from the field. He was a significant contributor on last year's Alabama Final Four team, when he averaged a shade under nine points per game and shot 44% from three. He played 31 minutes in the Tide's Final Four loss to eventual National Champion UConn.
A transfer from Cal State Fullerton, Wrightsell was in his fifth season of college basketball. The team is pursuing a medical redshirt for Wrightsell that would allow him to return for a sixth year, according to Oats.
Alabama basketball still has a Final Four contender
Losing Wrightsell hurts — badly. But at 6-2, Alabama has proven itself capable of hanging with any team in the country. The Crimson Tide have already beaten Houston and Illinois, and only fell to the Ducks on a last-second put-back.
Without Wrightsell, Alabama will look for more consistency out of Mark Sears than he has shown so far this year. After averaging 21 points per game last season, Sears is shooting under 30% from three, with his worst game being a scoreless outing against the Illini on November 20.
In better news, the Crimson Tide are also on the verge of getting a player back from injury. USF transfer Chris Youngblood, a guard who averaged 15.3 points per game for the Bulls last season, is expected back soon after missing the start of the season with an ankle injury. He's shot at least 40% from three in three of his four college seasons.
Fans will get their first look at Alabama without Wrightsell in a massive matchup Wednesday night at North Carolina as part of the ACC-SEC Challenge.
