Alabama Basketball's Depth Showed Itself in Dom Welch and Nick Pringle

In Dom Welch's debut and Pringle's second game with extended minutes, both guys proved their worth against Mississippi State.

It seems like low-hanging fruit to talk about the depth of the Alabama basketball roster, but it continues to be a storyline throughout this season with the latest example coming in the SEC opener against Mississippi State.

First off, guard Dom Welch, who had yet to play in a game as he recovered from a calf injury, made his season debut for Alabama Wednesday night, and even though he only recorded two rebounds and no points in 10 minutes of action, he was very active on defense.

"I thought his defense was great," Oats said. "Obviously he's a little rusty. [Tuesday] was the first day he's practiced in a month and a half. I was glad I was able to get him nine minutes. We'll try to increase his minutes as he gets more comfortable, but I thought. defensively, he gave us some really good minutes.

At 6-foot-5, Welch has a strong chance to shore up the defensive hole left by Nimari Burnett, who remains out with a wrist injury. It should also be mentioned that Oats regards Welch as another capable shooter on the Crimson Tide roster. Missing both of his 3-point attempts is not a good indication, but let's remember how cold the rest of the roster was from beyond the arc when the season began, and how in rhythm they are now. It's fair to give Welch the benefit of the doubt that he'll find his shot soon.

Secondly, Nick Pringle had another solid performance in a new season-high 20 minutes, finishing with 10 points and four rebounds. 

Pringle has earned his minutes the old fashioned way, making the most of his spot minutes until he got significant action against Jackson State with Noah Clowney out, finishing with 14 points, nine rebounds a block and two steals in 19 minutes against the Tigers.

Then against the Bulldogs, he stepped up with Charles Bediako getting into foul trouble and delivered again.

"He was asked to play a lot more minutes than he's used to, and I thought he did well with them," Oats said.

The fact that both Welch and Pringle provided good minutes in SEC action poses a good sign for Oats, seeing that his rotation could go two men deeper as Alabama begins conference play.