Mitchell Gone, Green Practicing

Tony Mitchell is gone for this year, but JaMychal Green seems to have a chance – perhaps a very good chance – to be back in uniform for the Alabama men’s basketball team this season.

Alabama Coach Anthony Grant issued a statement Monday afternoon saying that junior Bama forward Tony Mitchell, who has been suspended for four games, will not play again this year. He also announced that senior low post player JaMychal Green, who has been suspended three games in the third suspension of his career, had been reinstated to return to practice.

Ordinarily a player who is suspended is not permitted to practice with the team. That may or may not mean that Green being reinstated to practice is also reinstated to the team with the possibility of playing.

Alabama’s next game is at 6 p.m. CST Thursday at Arkansas.

Presumably, Mitchell would have an opportunity to return to the squad in 2012-13. It is also possible the junior from Swainsboro, Ga., might elect to move on.

Alabama went 2-2 in Mitchell’s absence and is 1-2 without Green. Bama is coming off a 62-50 win over Tennessee. In that game the Crimson Tide played primarily a four-guard line-up with relatively inexperienced big men Moussa Gueye and Carl Engstrom alternating in the low post, where they combined for nine points, nine rebounds, and six blocked shots. Bama was also without freshman inside player Nick Jacobs against Tennessee. Jacobs suffered an elbow to the face that resulted in him having to have a root canal and missing last Saturday’s game.

Green, a 6-8, 240-pound native of Montgomery, is Alabama’s leading scorer and rebounder, averaging 14.1 points and 7.2 rebounds per game. Mitchell was second in both categories, 13.1 points, 7 rebounds per game, before his suspension. Green was pre-season All-SEC.

Alabama is 17-9 overall and 6-6 in Southeastern Conference games.

Grant will have his regular weekly press briefing Tuesday.