Alabama Guard Latrell Wrightsell Returning For Final Season

Wrightsell will use his extra COVID year of eligibility to return to the Crimson Tide for one more season.

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — While this offseason has mostly featured turnover regarding the Alabama basketball roster, guard Latrell Wrightsell Jr. will bring some familiarity as he announced Tuesday morning that he will be returning for his final season in 2024-25.

Wrightsell spent the first three years of his career at Cal State Fullerton, before transferring to Alabama last April. He averaged 8.9 points during his first season in Tuscaloosa, while shooting 44.7 percent from three as one of the best shooters on the team.

While it took him a while to find his role, Wrightsell hit his stride for Alabama during SEC play and became one of the most important players on the team. The Crimson Tide finished the season with an undefeated record when he scored in double-figures.

Wrightsell's importance became even more apparent when he went down with a head injury in mid-February, causing him to miss or be limited in five consecutive games down the stretch of the regular season, a stretch Alabama went 2-3 in. He re-aggravated the same head injury in the second round of the NCAA Tourament, casing him to miss two games of Alabama's Final Four run, but returned to play in the national semifinal against UConn.

Wrightsell will be one of just four Alabama players from last year's team currently slated to return, though Mark Sears and Grant Nelson still have NBA Draft decisions on the docket to make. Five Alabama players have exited through the transfer portal since the season ended, but Nate Oats and his staff have brought in three transfers to counteract those losses in Pepperdine guard Houston Mallette, South Florida guard Chris Youngblood, and Auburn guard Aden Holloway.

As a fifth-year senior and the oldest of just a few returners, there's no doubt Wrightsell will be one of the veteran leaders of next year's Alabama team. With NBA Draft decisions looming and an open roster spot still available, there's still plenty of movement left before the 2024-25 roster finalized.

Check out BamaCentral's 2024-25 Alabama basketball roster tracker for a complete breakdown on where the roster currently stands.