Alabama men's basketball is coming off three straight appearances in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament (or better) and their quest for a fourth got a major boost on Monday.

Latrell Wrightsell Jr., who missed all but eight games last year after he ruptured his achilles tendon in December, has been granted a medical redshirt and can return to the Crimson Tide in 2025-26, the school has announced.

Prior to his injury, Wrightsell averaged 11.5 points on 50 percent shooting from the field, 42 percent from three and 85 percent from the line. He was in his second season in Tuscaloosa after transferring from Cal State Fullerton, where he played three years.

Wrightsell will rejoin a talented backcourt corps for Alabama that will have plenty of options but some uncertainty at point guard. In a surprising turn of events, Labaron Philon  (10.6 points, 3.8 assists) will also return alongside Aden Holloway (11.4 ppg, 41% 3PT).  As head coach Nate Oats said last month, he's willing to try different combinations.

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“You know what, we’d like to get – you know, obviously, we think Wrightsell and [Houston] Mallette can play a little point guard,” he said “That’s definitely a little bit of an issue. Holloway is definitely there. And then we do think that, Amari [Allen] and Davion [Hannah can].”

But Oats added that the team doesn't necessarily have to go into next season with one true point guard in mind.

“We don’t necessarily have to play with just a point guard with the way we’ve played and kind of how we have with multiple handlers, playing as fast as we do,” he continued. “I think you can play with kind of like a, a three of a four handling the ball a lot and being a creator for us with how well some of those guys shoot it off the ball too.”

Fans will find out early what this year's version of Alabama basketball looks like as the Crimson Tide have a loaded non-conference schedule. They will face St. John's, Illinois, Purdue, Clemson and Arizona before heading into another daunting SEC slate.