Bama Central

Nate Oats Provides Update on Grant Nelson's Injury Following Loss to Florida

The Alabama forward suffered a left leg injury towards the end of the first half of the SEC Tournament semifinal and never returned to the floor.

Hunter De Siver

Mar 15, 2025; Nashville, TN, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide forward Grant Nelson (4) drives to the basket against the Florida Gators during the first half at Bridgestone Arena. Mandatory Credit: Steve Roberts-Imagn Images
Mar 15, 2025; Nashville, TN, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide forward Grant Nelson (4) drives to the basket against the Florida Gators during the first half at Bridgestone Arena. Mandatory Credit: Steve Roberts-Imagn Images / Steve Roberts-Imagn Images
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NASHVILLE –– Alabama men's basketball forward Grant Nelson didn't play for the entire second half of the Crimson Tide's SEC Tournament semifinal 104-82 blowout loss to Florida due to a left leg injury, per a UA spokesperson.

Nelson went to the locker room with Alabama trainer Clarke Holter after hobbling around the court with 3:40 remaining in the first half. The injury seemed to occur while going for a defensive rebound. Nelson played the following offensive possession and even touched the ball a couple of times while moving around the interior, but couldn't stay in anymore.

"He got a knee injury," Alabama head coach Nate Oats said during the postgame press conference. "Not exactly sure what it is. Don't think it's an ACL or anything like that. "Hopefully we get him back for the first round of the NCAA Tournament."

Nelson was off to a very solid start to this crucial game as he had nine points on 4 of 7 from the field to go along with three rebounds, an assist, a block and a steal in just 10 minutes.

When the Crimson Tide came out of the halftime break, Nelson was not seen warming up nor was he on the bench to open the second half. Nevertheless, he returned to the bench about a minute into the period, but was still hobbling a bit but was wearing the Alabama shorts with the warmup shirt on.

That said, Nelson would never take the warmup shirt off. It was probably for the best as Florida came out of the halftime locker room angry and absolutely annihilated the Crimson Tide throughout the second half.

Alabama had no answers on either end of the floor in the latter 20 minutes of the game as the Gators chomped all over the Tide.

Alabama will await its NCAA Tournament fate tomorrow for Selection Sunday as chances are it'll become its longtime 2-seed projection. Florida will face Tennessee a couple of hours before the selection show in the SEC Tournament Championship.

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Hunter De Siver
HUNTER DE SIVER

Hunter De Siver is the lead basketball writer for BamaCentral and has covered Crimson Tide football since 2024. He previously distributed stories about the NFL and NBA for On SI and was a staff writer for Missouri Tigers On SI and Cowbell Corner. Before that, Hunter generated articles highlighting Crimson Tide products in the NFL and NBA for BamaCentral as an intern in 2022 and 2023. Hunter is a graduate from the University of Alabama, earning a degree in sports media in 2023

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