John Petty Jr. to Return to the Court Against Missouri

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Alabama basketball is getting a much-needed starting guard returning to the lineup on Saturday against Missouri.

Junior guard John Petty Jr. is slated to return to the court after missing the past two games due to a hyperextended elbow that he suffered in the first half of the game at Mississippi State back on Feb. 25.

Petty is confident in his abilities heading into the weekend.

“It’s better,” Petty said. “Way way better. Finally starting to get my extension back and to get it back where it’s finally starting to get my range back and my shot and my strength back so everything’s coming along faster than we expected. So hopefully, well, I’ll be ready for Saturday.”

Petty has spent the 10 days since the injury rehabilitating his elbow through non-contact drills and exercises. He eventually graduated on to contact drills with a pad and has now been practicing with the team in full-contact drills and scrimmages over the past two days.

“The last two days I practiced with the team. Before that I did some one-on-one contact drills with a pad so I feel like that I’m pretty prepared. I told the guys like just cause I was hurt don’t like shy back or you know when you see me coming hit me like they do in the game so they did a pretty good job getting me prepared for what’s coming so I feel like I’m ready.”

Since the injury in the first half of the game against the Bulldogs, the Crimson Tide has gone 1-2 in a crucial part of the season. Had Alabama won these close games against Mississippi State and Vanderbilt, the team would potentially have had a shot at a trip to the NCAA tournament.

With Tuesday night's home loss to Vanderbilt, though, the Crimson Tide's tournament hopes were wiped away.

Throughout his absence, his inability to contribute to the team on the court has been tough for Petty.

"It’s been very difficult," Petty said. "Even though I know my teammates are very capable of winning when any player go down we got a lot of guys willing to step up and make huge plays, it’s just the fact that I couldn’t be out there to help them and contribute to the game the ways that I do. That’s just the most part that bother me. I’m back now so we’ve been practicing hard. Finally getting everybody back. You know [Herbert Jones] still kind of hurt but you know he’s coming along good and I’m coming along so hopefully we can make a run these last few weeks.”

That being said, Petty is looking to make the most of the opportunity that Alabama has in the coming week.

The Crimson Tide takes on the Tigers on the road on Saturday (1:30 p.m. CT, SEC Network) in a game that will determine whether Alabama will be seeded ninth or tenth in next week's SEC tournament. If the Crimson Tide wins, it will be a lock in the ninth spot and will stay in Kentucky's bracket. Should it lose and Arkansas defeats Texas A&M, then Alabama will drop to 10th and will be placed in Florida's bracket.

Despite the team's lack of success since his injury, Petty is still motivated to get Alabama back up and running for its final game of the regular season.

“I just told the guys ‘we just gotta look ourselves in the mirror,’” Petty said. “This ain’t the way we wanted the season to end. This ain’t the way we wanted it to go but we dug ourselves in this hole so now we gotta look ourselves in the mirror and ask ‘so we just gonna quit here or is we gonna keep fighting to try to push to our goals?’

"I feel like all the guys responded to that well because the last two days of practice have been great with effort and you know guys practicing hard so I feel like we gonna answer the bell coming around.”