Tuscaloosa, Ala. ? Center Jermareo Davidson, who withdrew from classes before final exams because he had missed so much class time following the death of his girlfriend in a car accident, was cleared by the Southeastern Conference to rejoin No. 9 Alabama for Saturday’s game against Southern Mississippi.

Davidson, a senior who leads the SEC in rebounding at 10.6 per game and is averaging 14.9 points and 4.1 blocked shots, has not practiced with the Crimson Tide (8-1) team since withdrawing from classes Dec. 8.

Alabama announced Wednesday he had been reinstated.

On Nov. 12, Davidson and Brandy Nicole Murphy, a student trainer and his girlfriend, were involved in a car accident in Atlanta. Murphy died the following morning.

Five days earlier, Davidson’s brother was critically injured and remains in the hospital.

An NCAA waiver allows student-athletes who have endured tragic circumstances to withdraw from school for that semester and return to their teams and schools for the next semester.

“It feels good to have some stress off my back, not having to worry about classes and be able to focus on other things,” said Davidson, who missed two days and several practices. “It’s been a rough month for me, and this kind of relieves some of the stress for me.”