According to Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Nate Oats, transfer addition Chris Youngblood recently suffered an ankle injury that will cause him to miss some time this season. However, according to Oats, Youngblood will also be close to, if not, 100% by the start of SEC play in January.
In addition to Youngblood, Oats revealed that two freshmen – Derrion Reid and Naas Cunningham – are also dealing with minor injuries. Reid is dealing with a hand injury, and is considered as week-to-week, while Cunningham has a groin injury that is day-to-day.
An experienced wing, Youngblood came to Alabama in the offseason after transferring from South Florida where he spent the 2023-24 season. With the Bulls, Youngblood started 32-of-33 games a year ago to average 15.3 PPG, 2.5 RPG, and 2.1 APG, while also shooting 45.8% from the field, 41.6% from three, and 82.9% at the free throw line.
Likely to play a prominent role this upcoming season, Youngblood will certainly be missed early in the year by the Crimson Tide. However, the Crimson Tide still have the talent and depth on the roster to fill in the gap that Youngblood will leave early on, with names such as Aden Holloway, Houston Mallette, and Labaron Philon all names that could help so that.
Nate Oats provided an injury report on three players today:
Chris Youngblood suffered an ankle injury that will keep him out until conference play.
Derrion Reid suffered a hand injury and will be week-to-week
Naas Cunningham has a groin injury that will make him day-to-day
— Tony Tsoukalas (@Tony_Tsoukalas) September 26, 2024