Alabama Players Open Up About Being Without Aden Holloway in Tampa

Alabama basketball players have been through quite a bit this season.

The Crimson Tide's streak of 42-straight weeks being ranked in the AP Top 25 was snapped after starting SEC play with a 4-4 record, Charles Bediako's five-game return after two years away from college basketball became one of the biggest stories in sports and SEC Tournament 15-seed Ole Miss shocked 2-seed Alabama with an upset in the quarterfinal.

Alabama guard Aden Holloway was arrested on Monday morning, and was charged with first-degree possession of marijuana and failure to affix a tax stamp. Head coach Nate Oats said that, "We had to suspend him pending the investigation," and he did not travel with Alabama to Tampa for the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament

So ahead of the 4-seed Crimson Tide's first-round matchup with 13-seed Hofstra, what is the players' approach to being down its second-best scorer?

"I would say you've got to step up," Alabama guard Labaron Philon Jr. said on Thursday. "Guys got to be aggressive and we've just got to play like we were shot out of a cannon. We've been pressing really hard getting up and down a bit, but we're going to have our legs and we're going to be ready. Our style is just to run and gun, push it as fast as we can and get buckets early in the shot clock.

"I think we've still got guys that can do that at a high rate. We've just got to mix it up a little bit. And I'm pretty sure Coach Oats will have everything ready. He's been ready to play ever since we got here. Tampa is a great city, so being here and practicing, just been going up and down a little bit, having a little fun. So just being ready for tomorrow, it's going to be a fast paced game for us."

Philon will have a bit more on his shoulders with Holloway out, but he's built for it. The All-SEC First Team member has been named a Third Team All-American by the AP, USBWA, NABC and the Sporting News. He finished top-5 in the conference in points and rebounds per game.

Holloway was named to the All-SEC Third Team on March 9. He earned a starting role after being the Crimson Tide's sixth-man in 2024-25, and he's certainly made the most of it. The junior finished the regular season 14th in the conference in points per game (16.8 on 48.0 percent from the field) and eighth in assists per game (3.9).

And while Alabama will be without the junior this weekend, Crimson Tide guard Houston Mallette is confident that his teammates could fill Holloway's role.

"I think our team is really well equipped to handle adversity," Mallette said. "We started the league off pretty slow. I think we started 4-4 and we went on a run to finish off the league. Like I said earlier, we've had 13 different starting lineups. We've seen guys step up.

"I think our team, like we all love each other. There's real genuine love here. Like selfless love is one of our core values, and we're just excited for each other. The word Mudita comes up as well. Coach Murphy from softball came and talked to us about that word right after we had lost to Florida, and it's just like having vicarious joy for your teammates.

"I have vicarious joy for Baron, and when Baron scores 20, it feels like I score 20. When [Latrell Wrightsell Jr.] hits eight threes, I feel like I hit eight threes. That's the mentality our team has, and I'm excited for it to take off here soon."

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