Alabama Basketball Freshman Out Indefinitely With Medical Condition

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Alabama center Collins Onyejiaka will be out indefinitely with a medical condition, per head coach Nate Oats.

Oats made the announcement during Wednesday's press conference ahead of the Crimson Tide's home game against Purdue on Thursday evening. He didn't go into further detail regarding the medical condition.

A 4-star center prospect who was originally a member of the 2026 class, reclassified and officially committed to Alabama over the summer. The 6-foot-11, 265-pounder from The Newman School in Boston was ranked as the No. 11 center in the 2026 class, according to 247Sports.

It's very clear that he is a defensive piece who will hold down the paint. The Crimson Tide could really use a true rim protector, and no matter how long he's on the floor, don't be surprised if Onyejiaka emerges in this department if/when he returns.

“He's a large man. He's young," Oats said in the offseason. "He's supposed to be a senior in high school today, which is crazy when you see him. But the biggest thing was we needed some rim protector…He's a lot more raw offensively, but getting him a year early, you can really start to develop him and hopefully he's a guy down the road who can really be special for us.”

Onyejiaka was one of two players on the team labeled as a center on the official roster. Oats described the remaining center rotation as "thin," and broke down the players who will need to step up in Onyejiaka's absence.

"Aiden [Sherrell] and Noah [Williamson] really need to give us great minutes at the five spot," Oats said. "And they played pretty tough [against St. John's]. I thought they were both physical and played hard, tough, too many fouls. But they were tough against St John's, and we've got to get some production.

"They've got to finish at the rim. Those two and Collins combined to go 3-for-8 at the rim. That's not good for your center spot. So we've got to do a better job finishing at the rim and they've got to go get some rebounds. Like they can't just box the other big out, they need to get some rebounds. We're a little thin there, but I do think Aiden and Noah can handle that."

In addition to Sherrell and Williamson, Oats said that Alabama will sometimes have to go small and make the taller forwards act as centers.

"Taylor [Bol Bowen], that's kind of our only true four at that point. So, if you go small ball and put Taylor five, who do you put at the four? Well, Amari [Allen] is averaging almost 10 rebounds per game. I mean, he had 10 against St John's. So, you know, maybe you can go with four guards. Essentially, that's what you're going to have to do if Taylor goes to five."

"If Taylor's at the four and needs a break, you're going to have four guards. There's going to be plenty of chances that we have four guards out there, which means the bigger guards — Amari, Davion [Hannah], Houston [Mallette] — they're going to have to get in and rip on the ball a bit...We can play small with the way we play. We're just going to have to make some tough, physical plays and we've got to rebound the basketball on our defensive end."

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