Mitchell suspended for rest of season, Green reinstated for practice

Alabama power forward JaMychal Green, suspended from the basketball team for the past three games, has been reinstated to return to practice, Crimson Tide head coach Anthony Grant announced Monday afternoon.

Junior forward Tony Mitchell, who has missed the last four games, will remain suspended for the rest of the season, the coach said in a two-sentence press release announcing his decision.

The school’s release did not say when Green will see game action, but Grant indicated he will not make the trip for Thursday night’s game at Arkansas.

“I don’t anticipate them being available for Thursday,” Grant said during Monday morning’s SEC basketball coaches’ teleconference – before he clarified the players’ status.

“We’re in the process of getting all that stuff done,” the coach said.

Last week, Grant said he had not talked with Mitchell and Green, who are the team’s two leading scorers and rebounders – combining for 27 points and 14 rebounds per game. Green, the team’s only senior, and Mitchell, a junior, were also the Tide’s two most experienced players.

Green has started 109 games for Alabama, but has been suspended at least one game in each of the past three seasons under Grant. Mitchell had made 71 career starts for the Tide and had averaged 13.1 points and 7.0 rebounds per game this season.

Junior guard Andrew Steele said the two suspended players have been “staying positive” in the past two weeks.

“I think they’ve kept the right mindset and understood, you know, it’s part of life,” Steele said after the Tennessee game. “Things happen like that. You’ve got to take responsibility for what happens.

“I think they’ve kept their heads about it and tried to stay as positive as they can. They’ve been really supportive of us, too. It’s not like they distanced themselves away from the team.”

Steele also served a one-game suspension along with point guard Trevor Releford when they were sent home, with Green, from the road trip for the Feb. 11 LSU game. Steele said he believes Grant’s message will help the team now and in the future.

“Things are going to be done the right way,” the junior guard said Friday before the Tennessee game. “I think that’s a good signal. Accountability starts from the top and nobody is going to be excused from it.

“That sends the right message, not only in terms of basketball, but for when we leave here. To understand that there’s a certain way to do things and you should always do it the right way.”

Freshman guard Trevor Lacey led the Tide with 18 points on Saturday – a welcome development since he had scored a total of 12 points in the past five games. Lacey said Alabama has remained a team throughout the turmoil.

“We all have a piece of the pie,” said Lacey, who said other players simply had to step up against Tennessee in the absence of the veterans. “All of us together equals one team. We don’t settle for just, you know, the Big Three or a couple guys that’s not playing. We just all came together and did the little things that we could do to equal them out there.

“Everybody rebounded and made up for JaMychal’s and Tony’s rebounds. Everybody hustled for Tony’s hustle stats and made up for Trevor’s transition (game) when he didn’t play in the first half for injuries. We just all tried to just play.”

Grant said he didn’t think other players were hanging their heads without Green and Mitchell on the floor.

“We’ve played three or four games since that’s happened,” Grant said Monday. “I think our guys have moved on and are just trying to get better with each practice, trying to prepare as best we can with each opponent that’s in front of us.”

Grant isn’t saying the team is better without the suspended players.

“Those guys were our leading scorers and rebounders,” he noted.

But he also said the suspensions give other players a chance to develop.

“It gives the other guys opportunity to step up and play bigger roles than they had before,” Grant said, noting the contributions by 7-footers Moussa Gueye and Carl Engstrom against the Vols.

“And (it allows) other guys to take that next step in terms of what they’ve got to provide our team from a leadership standpoint. The opportunities are there, we’ve just got to get different guys stepping up and taking advantage of those opportunities.”

Grant almost certainly hates the suspensions as much as Green, Mitchell and their teammates do. But Steele understands where the coach is coming from.

“It’s tough and it’s something that a lot of people wouldn’t do, but I think you’ve got to give him credit for trying to build a program that way,” the junior guard said. “I would rather have somebody that would make sure he steered us in the right direction as opposed to giving a false sense of security about doing things that could possibly hurt us later on in life.

“I respect the fact that he handled it in the way a father probably would – correct you when you do something wrong, but understand that mistakes happen.”