Nate Oats Offers Injury Update on Nimari Burnett

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — It won't be too much longer before Alabama basketball sees one of its key guards return to the court.

On Monday afternoon, Crimson Tide head coach Nate Oats had some positive news regarding guard Nimari Burnett. Burnett, who has been out for the past few weeks with a hand injury that required surgery, is scheduled to visit with his surgeon once again this week.

From there, there will still be some recovery and rehabilitation time before he can return in full capacity to the team.

"I think he's meeting with the surgeon this week," Oats said. "At some point we'll get an update on that. [...] I think we have two-and-a-half [weeks] left. I think he's three-and-a-half weeks in and I think we've got about two-and-a-half left.

"He's starting to do some — now it's his left hand, so he's starting to do some shooting on the side in practice. But he's not playing Wednesday, he's not playing this week — not next week, but some point that following week."

Burnett missed the entirety of the 2021-22 season after suffering a knee injury in the preseason. This year, however, Burnett has developed into a key contributor on both sides of the court and is expected to continue making an impact upon his return.

Through the first nine games of the current season, Burnett started in all nine of those games prior to his injury. In his average of 18.9 minutes per game, Burnett contributed 7.9 points per game along with 2.3 rebounds per game. He also recorded seven assists, four steals and three blocks.

See Also: