TUSCALOOSA ā To hear his teammates tell it, thereās no doubt Alabama junior Donta Hall will be at midcourt for Thursday nightās opening tip against Virginia Tech.
āI feel like heās going to come to play,ā said freshman guard John Petty, of Huntsville, ājust because the type of stage and the opportunity that we have. I donāt think heād want to miss it.ā
Added sophomore guard Dazon Ingram: āOh, Dontaās going ... heās definitely going" to play Thursday.
Yet, a day before ninth-seeded Alabama (19-15) is set to play No. 8 seed Virginia Tech (21-11) in the East region in Pittsburghās PPG Paints Arena, Hall has yet to clear the teamās concussion protocol.
The 6-foot-9 junior forward took a scary fall last Friday against rival Auburn in the SEC tournament, when he was upended on defense and hit the back of his head on the court in St. Louis.
Hall continues to be evaluated on a daily basis, with head coach Avery Johnson still uncertain whether Hall will be available for Thursday's 8:20 p.m. tipoff. He missed Alabama's game Saturday against Kentucky.
āHe wasnāt able to participate in any parts of practice" Monday, Johnson said. "He did ride the bike a little bit, which was a good sign. ... Iāll know a lot more about his status once we get on that plane to go to Pittsburgh."
A force inside the paint, Hall leads Alabama with 69 dunks this season while shooting 72.1 percent (145 of 201 field goals) from the field. Nearly half of his made field goals came on dunks.
Hallās field-goal percentage would lead the nation, though he is just shy of qualifying for the NCAAās minimum standard of averaging five made field goals per game. He's averaging 4.53 made baskets per game.
āHe brings a different level of energy,ā Petty said of Hall. āAs well as heās been playing lately, opponents are going to have to double-team him because heās been killing one-on-one coverage, getting lobs for dunks ā¦ so itās going to open things up a lot on the offensive end.
āOn defense, heās just an animal. Heās going to protect the rim, heās going to get rebounds, so heās going to do what it takes.ā
The All-SEC defender leads the Crimson Tide with 68 blocks and is tied for third in the SEC averaging 2.1 blocks per game. Hall also ranks sixth in the SEC with 219 rebounds and averages 6.8 per game.
Hallās absence on defense was especially evident last Saturday against Kentucky, when Wildcats forward Weylen Gabriel went off for seven 3-pointers in an 86-63 loss.
āWhen you lose an All-SEC defensive guy, that can hurt your defense a little bit,ā Johnson said.
If Hall misses the game, Alabama will have to turn to sophomore forward Daniel Giddens and 6-foot-9 freshmen big men Alex Reese and Galin Smith, the latter of which started all three games in last weekās SEC tournament.
āWeāre just going to try to adjust like we did against Kentucky when (Hall) didnāt play then,ā Petty said. āAs far as Iāve seen, I feel like he's going to play, but if he donāt, weāre still going to come out, try to play our best game and do whatever it takes to get the W.ā
By Alex Byington Sports Writer
Johnson says 'we'll see,' but teammates hopeful Hall will play Thursday
