Nate Oats: Charles Bediako Out 1-2 Weeks, Nimari Burnett Limited
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Three key players for Alabama basketball will either be listed as out or receiving limited minutes on the hardwood in this Saturday's charity exhibition against Southern Illinois.
During his press conference on Thursday, Crimson Tide head coach Nate Oats gave an injury update regarding sophomore center Charles Bediako, sophomore guard Nimari Burnett and senior guard Jahvon Quinerly. Bediako and Burnett were both withheld from Alabama's scrimmage at TCU, but it appears that their injuries will take a little while longer to heal than originally anticipated.
"Charles is still not practicing, so he's out," Oats said. "Hopefully he can start to get some drills next week so we'll see how he responds to that to know whether he'll be able to play in Game 1. Nimari's been practicing — limited. I think he'll be on a minutes restriction, but he'll play Saturday."
While Bediako's injury is still unknown, Burnett suffered a right knee injury ahead of the 2021-22 season that required surgery and kept him on the bench for the entirety of last year. Despite being limited in minutes as the Crimson Tide opens the season, his return is still promising.
Quinerly's absence comes as no surprise, but his recovery status is quite encouraging. Quinerly suffered an ACL tear in Alabama's first and only game of the NCAA Tournament against Notre Dame, and his recovery was initially projected to be sometime in January. However, according to Oats, that timeline has been shifted up dramatically to possibly as early as the beginning of December.
Even more impressive, Oats said that Quinerly has been able to start practicing with the team once again.
"Quinerly won't play, but he has been able to do some stuff in practice," Oats. "You can still tell that he's not all there, but he's coming. He's working hard. Clarke [Holter]'s done a really good job with him. [Charlie] Henry's been working with the guys on the side in practice as well — they're coming.
Over the first two weeks of the season, Alabama will host Longwood and Liberty before traveling to play at South Alabama. After another home game against Jacksonville State, the Crimson Tide will travel to Portland, Ore. to participate in the Phil Knight Invitational — a tournament loaded with talent, including the preseason No. 1 North Carolina Tarheels.
While there will be three key players either listed as out or being limited on the court, Oats sees their progress as encouraging heading into the season.
"I think if we can keep everybody else injury-free, we should have all 12 available maybe earlier than what we thought," Oats said. "Maybe early December, somewhere in there. The plan is to have Charles available that first or second week depending on how he does next week in practice."
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