“For him to only play half the conference games would be, I don’t know if that’s fair to him to be honest with you,” Oats said. “It’s gonna be a conversation we have with him when he gets here, probably halfway through where, “Look, how are your knees feeling?’
“Because if you bring him back, it’s gotta be, your knees are going to 100% be healthy and you can full go as many minutes as you deserve to play the rest of the year in all the games. If you can’t do that, with his knees, I just don’t think it’d be the right decision.”
Mallette transferred to Alabama from Pepperdine this offseason. According to Oats, he missed the entire summer due to the knee issues.
Alabama could also be without Derrion Reid on Saturday. The forward is suffering from a lower-body injury and has missed the last three games.
Oats didn’t sound optimistic about a possible return against LSU.
“We play at night tomorrow, so I think he’ll get a workout in tomorrow morning, see how he feels,” Oats said. “But he’s not a for sure, he’s not in, I think he’ll be listed as questionable would be my guess.”
Alabama and LSU are set to tip off at 7:30 p.m. CT Saturday in Coleman Coliseum. The game will be aired on the SEC Network
