$800,000 NIL-valued Terrion Arnold backs Rylan Griffen as Alabama beats Auburn in 79-75 marquee matchup

Alabama guard Rylan Griffen was sensational from the bench in the Tide's thrilling 79-75 win against rivals, the Auburn Tigers on Wednesday evening.

He registered 17.0 points, 7.0 rebounds and 1.0 assists in 31 minutes of high-octane action, and his effort was acknowledged on Instagram by former Alabama Crimson Tide defensive back, the $800,000 NIL-valued Terrion Arnold, who recently declared for the 2024 NFL draft.

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How Alabama got Rylan Griffen going

Rylan Griffen was poor in the Tide's loss against the Tennessee Volunteers last weekend, missing all of his 3-point attempts and turning over the ball six times, registering 7.0 points and 5.0 rebounds.

After the win against the Auburn Tigers, he revealed what controversial coach Nate Oats did to get him fired up after the poor showing against Tennessee.

"He challenged me," Griffen said. "Like, 'We need you this game. You weren't good against Tennessee. We need you to be better for us against Auburn. I like challenges, so I took the challenge. I hope I played good. I don't really care, though, we won."

After the game, Nate Oats was full of praise for Griffen even after relegating him to the second team during practice and starting him on the bench in the game against Auburn.

"Rylan was really good off the bench. We needed him. It's kind of like, we needed a big burst. He came in and gave us a big punch, kind of exactly what we wanted," Oats said.

"It shows he's all about the team and whatever he needs to do to help the team win. ... Some guys get a comfort level [starting]. Some of these guys want to be pros -- they're going to have to come off the bench as a pro. So it's not the worse thing to figure it out.

"If he's going to keep playing like this, maybe we'll keep bringing him off the bench."

Griffen was not only a super sub, but he also took on coaching roles, encouraging teammate, Grant Nelson, who had a torrid first half shooting 1-of-5 to play better.

"My confidence wasn't all there," Nelson revaled after the game. "Rylan talked to me on the bench. He challenged me. I took that and ran it with it. I appreciate these guys getting on me.

"I feel like we need that. We need to get on each other; not just the coaches coaching us, but coaching each other."

Nelson had eight free throws and eight rebounds in a monumental effort in the final 13 minutes of the game to close out the narrow game against a talented opponent.

Alabama fans and coach Nate Oats will be glad that Rylan Griffen has embraced several roles and is willing to sacrifice for the team.