Alabama junior guard to miss remainder of season due to foot, knee injuries

In his first season playing for the program after transferring in from Tulane, Alabama redshirt junior guard Ricky Tarrant established himself as the team’s second-leading scorer with an average of 13.1 points per game. However Tarrant hasn’t played since the Crimson Tide’s two-point loss to Florida on January 27, a game in which he ruptured the plantar fascia in his foot.

The hope was that Tarrant would be healthy enough to help the Crimson Tide later in the season. But head coach Anthony Grant announced Thursday that Tarrant, who has missed the last eight games, will be sidelined for the remainder of the season. And the foot issue isn’t the only one that needs to be addressed either, as Tarrant also has to undergo a surgical procedure on his left knee.

Tarrant, Alabama’s No. 2 scorer, also requires surgery on his left knee. Doctors had initially planned to fix what Alabama described as a bony prominence in the knee during the offseason. But Grant says Tarrant’s foot injury was not healing rapidly enough for him to play in the next few weeks.

Grant also stated that forward Shannon Hale, who played just 12 minutes in Alabama’s win over South Carolina Tuesday night due to a foot injury, is doubtful for their game at Vanderbilt on Saturday.

Since losing Tarrant, the Crimson Tide have alternated wins and losses over the last eight games. Senior guards Levi Randolph and Rodney Cooper, the team’s other two double-digit scorers, have led the way on the perimeter for a team that is 17-11 overall and 7-8 in SEC play.