Why Taylor Bol Bowen Exited Early in Alabama's Road Loss to Florida

The Crimson Tide forward went to the bench with 13 minutes remaining in the first half, but he never returned to the floor.

Jan 7, 2026; Nashville, Tennessee, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Nate Oats talks with forward Taylor Bol Bowen (7) as he comes off the court during the second half at Memorial Gymnasium. Mandatory Credit: Steve Roberts-Imagn Images | Steve Roberts-Imagn Images

Alabama was dismantled by Florida 100-77 on the road on Sunday afternoon, and an early exit prevented Crimson Tide forward Taylor Bol Bowen from contributing to the comeback effort.

Bol Bowen came out of the game with 13:33 left in the first half and was receiving attention from trainer Clarke Holter behind the bench. The Gators held a slim 16-12 lead at the time of Bol Bowen's departure, and he never returned to the floor.

"Something was wrong with his leg," Alabama head coach Nate Oats told Crimson Tide Sports Network on Sunday evening. "I got to get with [trainer] Clarke [Holter]. Clarke kind of said he was out. Injury deal. Something happened to his leg in that first minute-and-a-half stretch he was in."

Oats gave an update on Bol Bowen during Wednesday night's 'Hey Coach' radio show.

"We had Taylor up in Birmingham today," Oats said. "He's going to be day-to-day. He was playing really well, and then he wasn't even able to play two minutes in the game."

Bol Bowen came into Sunday missing three games this season, the most recent being the win over Mississippi State on Jan. 13 due to a hand injury. The Florida State offseason transfer addition is averaging 8.1 points, 5.7 rebounds and 1.2 blocks in 22.2 minutes per contest.

What's disappointing about Bol Bowen's early exit is how much Oats commended him during Friday's press conference leading up to this SEC showdown. Oats explained that Bol Bowen "deserves to have a great game," as he has been "rebounding really well" and "an absolute monster with his effort."

"I think he's just got to keep playing as hard as he's playing," Oats said. "He's an athlete that can get up in the air and go get [rebounds] above the rim. He's just got to keep going to the glass. We had to get his mindset to flip, and it took a while, but it has. I honestly couldn't be more proud of a guy this year than him, because we wanted his efforts, toughness, physicality and his rebounding (when he transferred in). He's just improved drastically in all those areas.

"It's really a mindset change. And to me, it proves that you recruit guys and you hope that you can coach them to play harder, but he's an example, and there's plenty of them. What are we in this business for if you can't have improvements? I mean, it's life. Everybody needs to get better in certain areas of life, he needed to get better in those areas of basketball and he proves it. You should give a guy a chance to make a conscious decision, to make improvements, he has and he's been great.

"I love coaching Taylor now. He's always been a great kid, I just needed to get more effort out of him than he's given. I mean, he's a max effort kind of guy that embodies what this program has been about since we've been here. I just hope he continues to stay healthy, and his offensive game follows how hard he's been playing on defense. He's just got to keep playing hard, going to the glass, making all the tough plays. Making that of who he is, he's done a good job here this last month."

Alabama falls to 14-7, including a 4-4 record in SEC play. The Crimson Tide will face Texas A&M, who holds an SEC-best 7-1 record against the conference, at home on Feb. 4.

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