Alabama Basketball Final Four Practice Notes: April 2, 2024

Notes from the media viewing period of Alabama's final practice before leaving Tuscaloosa for the Final Four.

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Alabama basketball is deep in preparation for the Final Four, and on Tuesday afternoon the media was open to view the final 15 minutes of practice before the team gets on a plane and flies out to Phoenix, Arizona.

Here are some notes from what we saw at practice:

1. Wrightsell practices

Starting guard Latrell Wrightsell, who had to miss both the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight due to a head injury suffered against Grand Canyon in the second round, practiced for the first time since his injury. In the portion of practice we saw, he looked comfortable and even knocked down a 3-pointer, but Oats said parts of practice were limited for him.

He also was not practicing with the starters. Mark Sears, Aaron Estrada, Rylan Griffen, Grant Nelson and Nick Pringle all wore crimson jerseys and practiced and practiced as a unit, which has been the starting five with Wrightsell out.

More Wrightsell updates will come throughout the week.

2. Former player used on scout team

Erwin Dudley, the 2002 SEC Player of the Year and an all-time Alabama basketball great, laced up his shoes for practice and threw on a jersey.

Dudley is currently a graduate assistant at Alabama, and today he worked with the scout team wearing No. 32, the number of star UConn center Donovan Clingan. The scout team was working on UConn's baseline-out-of-bounds plays, giving the Alabama defense a look for what actions they'll see in those settings on Saturday.

"Erwin was SEC Player of the Year, he can score it pretty well in the post," Nate Oats said. "He's not young like Clingan and he's not near as big so he can't give us an exact look, but he gives us a pretty good look on a lot of post players in practice. It's nice that we've got Erwin as a grad assistant that's able to go on the scout team sometimes."

3. Kris Parker makes some plays

Kris Parker also joined Dudley on the scout team, helping run UConn's BLOB looks against Alabama's defense.

While he worked there, he made a few impressive plays, including a nice slip to the basket that resulted in a dunk as well as a step back three over the outstretched arms of Nick Pringle.

Parker redshirted this year, and has the chance to be an impactful player for Alabama in the future with his unique combination of length and athleticism.