Published Nov 8, 2021
Alabama basketball forward Alex Tchikou suspended for two games
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Tony Tsoukalas  •  TideIllustrated
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Alabama basketball forward Alex Tchikou is progressing nicely from an Achilles injury that kept him out all of last season. However, the redshirt freshman will have to wait about a week before he is able to make his Crimson Tide debut.

During his Monday press conference, Nate announced that Tchikou is suspended for the first two games of the season. Oats declined to go into detail about the reasoning behind the forward’s suspension.

“He’s still working to get himself back in shape, but we’ll see where he’s at at Game 3,” Oats said.

No. 14 Alabama will open its season against Louisiana Tech on Tuesday at 8 p.m. CT inside Coleman Coliseum. The Tide will then host South Dakota State on Friday at 7 p.m. Tchikou's first appearance could come on Nov. 16 when Alabama hosts South Alabama at 6:30 p.m.

Tchikou did not play during Alabama’s exhibition against Louisiana-Lafayette on Oct. 24. Following that game, Oats said that the forward was able to play but that he was not able to practice and couldn’t provide what he was looking for at the time.

Tchikou signed with Alabama as the No. 36 overall player and No. 6 power forward in the 2020 class. The 6-foot-11 big man added a significant amount of muscle since joining the Tide, bulking up 25 pounds to 230 pounds.

“We’ve talked to him about what his role is,” Oats said of Tchikou in April. “He’s playing more like a [center] that plays on the perimeter. Our [centers] don’t play like traditional [centers]. But he’s bigger, stronger -- he’s going to need to rebound, shoot it well for us, but he’s coming along.”

Alabama suspended junior guard Jahvon Quinerly and sophomore forward Juwan Gary for the exhibition against Louisiana-Lafayette. Monday, Oats said both will be available for Tuesday’s opener.

“It’ll be good to have our full roster, for the most part,” Oats said. “Our guys are looking forward to playing somebody else.”