Jahvon Quinerly is "Ready To Go" According to Nate Oats

Oats also gave updates on Darius Miles and Dom Welch's status for the Phil Knight Invitational.

Alabama fans were excited when they saw Jahvon Quinerly return last week against South Alabama. The senior point guard was originally expected to return to the court in December, but when head coach Nate Oats saw how well Quinerly was progressing from his ACL injury, Oats realized an earlier return was a definite possibility.

"Maybe a month and a half ago when we saw his rehab was coming along quicker than maybe planned, we kind of looked to this game and thought 'Can we get him for the Michigan State game?'", Oats said. "If we're gonna try and get him for that game, lets try to get him some minutes before that, try to get him some game reps."

According to Oats, Quinerly was on a minutes restriction against Jacksonville State, but now says the point guard is "ready to go" for the Phil Knight Invitational in Portland.

Other than Quinerly, Oats gave injury updates for two more members of the Alabama basketball squad. Junior forward Darius Miles has been limited in practice but has started doing some live action. Transfer guard Dom Welch, however, has not done any live action in practice.

"I'll say [Miles] is more probable than Dom, but they're both up in the air," Oats said.

Alabama opens the invitational against Michigan State on Wednesday, and depending on the finish will play either the winner or loser of the UConn vs. Oregon game Thursday. Oats will see if Miles will be healthy enough for Thursday's game, while also hoping Welch isn't far behind.

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