The question of eligibility of Alabama’s basketball roster was once again posed today as head coach Avery Johnson met with the media. College basketball programs connected with recent FBI investigations are beginning to rule players out.
News surfaced today that two key Auburn basketball contributors are out indefinitely in a supposed connection with the FBI investigation. Frontcourt players Austin Wiley and Danjel Purifoy will not play for the foreseeable future.
Amid the news, Johnson gave a rather cryptic response when asked about his own team.
“We’re moving forward with the roster we have, and that’s all I will say about that,” Johnson said.
Alabama conducted an internal review of the program, which led to Kobie Baker resigning from his position of associate athletics director. Johnson’s first response was not the most reassuring, but he responded the same way after being asked for a second time.
“We’re moving forward with the roster, the roster that we have,” he said. “We have 13 scholarship players and two walk-ons.”
Johnson also chose not to comment on Auburn’s situation. Auburn was one of the programs that was majorly involved with the investigation.
“I will not comment on another school,” Johnson said. “As far as our team, we are moving forward with the roster that we have.”
At the heart of that roster stands Collin Sexton. The meeting between Baker and an unnamed player’s father took place in the Atlanta metro area. Sexton is from Atlanta, so questions over his eligibility were raised when Baker resigned. As of right now, Johnson says the team has all 15 players moving forward.
Sexton did play in Alabama’s 75-67 win over Baylor in a closed scrimmage. He scored 15 points in the win.
Eligibility is a concern, but injuries have also taken place early in Alabama’s season. Riley Norris (hip) has been out, and Johnson said he is slowly getting healthy. He said the team will provide another update before they take a trip to play Memphis next week.
“Riley (Norris) is progressing,” Johnson said. “He’s still week-to-week, but he’s starting to jog a little bit on our Alter-G and get some conditioning. He’s started to shoot a little bit on the court.”
Another injured player, Ar’Mond Davis, continues to be held out with a knee injury.
“Ar’Mond (Davis) is still out,” Johnson said. “He hasn’t had any basketball-related activities.”
Alabama will host UAH in an exhibition game on Oct. 6 at 7 p.m. CT.
