The highest-rated basketball recruit in Alabama history will miss the Crimson Tide’s opening game on Friday night due to potential ties to the FBI’s wide-ranging corruption investigation.
Alabama’s 5-star freshman Collin Sexton is eligible to play after 1-game suspension
Alabama will hold Collin Sexton out of Friday’s opener against Memphis
Photo by David Banks/Getty Images
The good news for Alabama is that Collin Sexton will be eligible for Alabama’s second game against Lipscomb on Tuesday.
Sexton is a five-star freshman guard from Georgia. He is the No. 5 overall player in the class of 2017 and the No. 1 guard, according to the industry-consensus 247Sports Composite. He’s the crown jewel of coach Avery Johnson’s elite class, which slots in at No. 8 in the country — wildly good for Bama basketball.
Sexton was initially considered ineligible, and he missed a Monday exhibition against Alabama-Huntsville. The Crimson Tide start real games on Friday, when they’ll face Memphis in a Veterans Classic match in Annapolis, Md. without Sexton.
From a statement on Monday by Tide athletic director Greg Byrne:
The NCAA informed us late this afternoon that Collin Sexton has not had his eligibility reinstated by the NCAA. We don’t have any further information at this time, but we will continue to cooperate with the NCAA and work toward a resolution that results in Collin’s timely reinstatement.
While we are disappointed, the right decision was to err on the side of caution for tonight’s exhibition game.
Here’s how Sexton connects to the FBI case, briefly.
According to an FBI complaint that was released Tuesday, someone referred to as “Staff Member 1,” whom Alabama later found out was [former Tide basketball administrator Kobie] Baker, took money from a financial advisor in return for trying to help push players toward signing with that financial advisor. He was also part of a dinner with a player’s father, that agent and Rashan Michel, who was arrested Tuesday.
While the player’s father wasn’t named, he was identified as being the father of a highly-ranked incoming player at Staff Member 1’s school and the dinner took place in Atlanta on or around Aug. 31. Sexton is from the Atlanta area.
The Tide are glad to have Sexton back
Alabama’s November schedule includes games against three formidable programs: UT-Arlington, Minnesota and BYU. Sexton is a one-man offensive wrecking ball who will be at the center of everything Avery Johnson’s team does all season.
College basketball fans deserve to watch Sexton play this year. It’s great news that he’ll be eligible.
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