Alabama Guard Named to Naismith Player of the Year Late-Season Team

Labaron Philon Jr. is one of 30 Division I players named to the prestigious list, which comes one day after he scored a career-high 35 points against Arkansas.

Alabama guard Labaron Philon Jr celebrates in the second half of the game against Arkansas on Feb. 18, 2026. | Sarah Munzenmaier/Alabama Crimson Tide on SI

Alabama basketball guard Labaron Philon Jr. has been named the 2026 Jersey Mike’s Naismith Trophy Player of the Year Late-Season Team, the Atlanta Tipoff Club announced Thursday afternoon. 

The sophomore is one of 30 Division I players named to the prestigious list and is joined by six other players from the Southeastern Conference.

Philon is averaging 21.8 points, 5.0 assists and 3.4 rebounds per game this season. He has scored double-figures in every game played this season, and is shooting 50.8 percent from the field and 39.5 percent from three-point range.

This Naismith Trophy Player of the Year Late-Season Team isn't the only list that Philon is featured in, as he's previously been named to the Bob Cousy Point Guard of the Year Top 10 Midseason List and to the Wooden Award Midseason Top 20 List.

This news comes one day after Philon scored a career-high 35 points in No. 25 Alabama's 117-115 double overtime home win over No. 20 Arkansas.

Around the midway point of the latter period, Philon surpassed Crimson Tide great Brandon Miller's single-season mark in games scoring 20-plus points. Miller had 20-plus points in 14 of his 37 games played during the 2022-23 season, while Philon has now reached that mark in 15 of his 25 contests this season.

For reference, Mark Sears holds the Alabama record in this stat category with 26 games of 20+ points during the 2023-24 season.

Mississippi State guard Josh Hubbard came into Wednesday leading the SEC in points per game, but Philon and Arkansas guard Darius Acuff Jr. were second and third, respectively. Acuff played the entire game and scored 49 points, but Philon losing the scoring battle meant nothing to Crimson Tide head coach Nate Oats.

"We needed to think about what it took to win the game," Oats said during the postgame press conference. "His defense on Acuff, his playmaking ability, Baron ends up with seven assists. Acuff played well, obviously 49 but, he had five assists, Baron had seven. Obviously we got to the end they were both scoring a lot and we didn't do a very good job on him at all for most of the game.

"When he plays these other really good guards, we need to get the win. His version of outplaying them needs to be better defense, better leadership, better ball movement, bettert floor leadership, all that. And I thought he was pretty good at a lot of that tonight."

Naismith Trophy Late-Season Team:

• Darius Acuff Jr., Arkansas
• Nate Ament, Tennessee
• Christian Anderson, Texas Tech
• Flory Bidunga, Kansas
• Cameron Boozer, Duke
• Jaden Bradley, Arizona
• Brayden Burries, Arizona
• Silas Demary Jr., UConn
• AJ Dybantsa, BYU
• Zuby Ejiofor, St. John's
• Jeremy Fears Jr., Michigan State
• Kingston Flemings, Houston
• Ja'Kobi Gillespie, Tennessee
• Keyshawn Hall, Auburn
• Thomas Haugh, Florida
• Graham Ike, Gonzaga
• Joshua Jefferson, lowa State
• Alex Karaban, UConn
• Yaxel Lendeborg, Michigan
• Ebuka Okorie, Stanford
• Darryn Peterson, Kansas
• Labaron Philon Jr., Alabama
• Pryce Sandfort, Nebraska
• Braden Smith, Purdue
• Bennett Stirtz, lowa
• Tyler Tanner, Vanderbilt
• Bruce Thornton, Ohio State
• JT Toppin, Texas Tech
• Keaton Wagler, Illinois
• Caleb Wilson, North Carolina

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