After spending the holidays at home in Buffalo, N.Y., Dom Welch was able to escape freezing temperatures in time to join Alabama basketball this week. Whether or not the injured guard will be able to join the Crimson Tide for its SEC opener against Mississippi State on Wednesday night still remains to be seen.

Welch, who transferred to Alabama from St. Bonaventure this offseason, has yet to make his Crimson Tide debut due to a calf injury. That could change this week as head coach Nate Oats provided a positive injury report on the sharp-shooting graduate student Tuesday.

“Dom was able to get a workout in last night,” Oats said. “He practiced with the team today. He’s still dealing with the calf strain. He didn’t go through the full practice today. He went through parts of it to see how he felt. We’ll see how he feels tomorrow, go through shootaround and then make a determination.”

If Welch does play against Mississippi State, Oats noted that he will be on a minutes restriction. However, the 6-foot-5, 205-pound guard's return would be welcomed in any capacity. In 33 starts last season with St. Bonaventure last season, Welch averaged 12.3 points and 6.0 rebounds while shooting 41.4% from the floor and 37.4% from beyond arc.

While Welch’s status is still unknown, Oats said Alabama will see the return of freshman starter Noah Clowney, who missed the Crimson Tide’s win over Jackson State with an illness last week. Clowney leads Alabama with 8.8 rebounds per game and is also averaging 9.5 points per contest.

“We eased him back in,” Oats said. “He’s getting his strength back, putting some weight back on. He lost some weight with the illness, but he’s back, he’s practicing. He was full-go today.”

No. 8 Alabama (10-2) will travel to No. 21 Mississippi State (11-1) for an 8 p.m. CT tipoff on Wednesday night. Last year the two teams split their two meeting with the Crimson Tide falling 78-76 in Starkville, Miss., before beating the Bulldogs 80-75 in Tuscaloosa, Ala.