The Alabama basketball team has been getting along this season without one of the key players on the floor since early December.
While they were holding out hope that swingman Nick King would be able to make a return this season, they now know that won’t happen. After a series of tests this week concluded that King wouldn’t be able to return, coach Avery Johnson made confirmed it to the media Friday.
Johnson said that King was “obviously disappointed.”
King was unable to participate in any basketball related activities since his diagnosis and the infection caused him to lose a significant amount of weight very quickly. After sitting out all of last season due to NCAA transfer rules, the junior will now have missed the bulk of his season for a second year in a row.
.@CoachAvery6 says jr. wing Nick King will be out the rest of the season after further tests on his lung illness.
— Alex Byington (@_AlexByington) February 17, 2017
King was only able to play in seven games this season and put up fairly pedestrian numbers when he was on the floor. Averaging just over 12 minutes, he managed only 3.3 points per game. How much of this was due to the illness not yet having been diagnosed can not be known.
With one year of eligibility remaining after this season, King will now focus on his health and try to make his body right.
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