Nate Oats: Alabama Guard Aden Holloway 'Will be Ready to Play' Against Former Team

The Crimson Tide sixth-man spent his freshman year at Auburn, which was what he called an "abnormal" experience.

Alabama guard Aden Holloway (2) in action against MSU at Humphrey Coliseum in Starkville, Mississippi on Wednesday, Jan 29, 2025. | Photo by Crimson Tide Photos / UA Athletics

TUSCALOOSA, Ala.— Alabama men's basketball guard Aden Holloway transferred from Iron Bowl rival Auburn this offseason knowing the risks of leaving a premier program as a starter.

“He obviously is familiar with their system, their team,” Alabama head coach Nate Oats said during Friday's press conference. “He had some really good games here. He’s a year older here. He’s gotten comfortable in our system. He’s playing well in it. It will be a big game for him, but he’s pretty relaxed. He doesn’t turn the ball over much. I don’t anticipate him doing anything crazy. He will be ready to play. He’s been ready to play most of our games all year.”

The former Tiger hit a cold stretch during his freshman campaign last season, and a fresh start elsewhere seemed to be his only answer.

The Alabama sixth-man currently leads the conference in three-point percentage with 42.1 percent and has proved to be a big impact player throughout his first season with the Crimson Tide. Holloway has scored 10-plus points in 9-of-11 SEC games––a slate against indisputably the best conference in college basketball this season.

"It feels kind of normal," Holloway said after a 22-point performance against Auburn. "Last year was abnormal for me. I feel like it was completely downhill. It was tough getting back up. This year, my coaches have put a lot of confidence in me. My teammates put a lot of confidence in me. It just goes hand-in-hand. Super appreciative of all of them. I would just say it feels more normal to get back to playing at a higher level."

Saturday's matchup between the No. 1 and No. 2 teams in America is the 44th-ever of its kind in college basketball and the first time in SEC history.

Oats has constantly said throughout SEC play that Holloway always has the green light to shoot to shoot from deep and that added confidence could lead to a big performance in this revenge game.