Game on the Line, Nate Oats Reveals Alabama Players Taking Last Shot

Alabama basketball will look a lot different this upcoming season as it has five returning players.

The Crimson Tide has nine newcomers, including five incoming transfers and four freshmen. Alabama lost four players to the transfer portal and another four due to exhausted collegiate eligibility.

First Team All-American guard Mark Sears, who is now on a two-way deal with the Milwaukee Bucks, was Alabama's go-to shooter in clutch time last season. But now that he's gone, with the game on the line, who can the Crimson Tide count on to make the shot?

"Labaron [Philon] is obviously super talented, he came back," Alabama head coach Nate Oats said on The Sideline With Andy Katz on Thursday morning. "He would have gotten drafted, would have been late first, early second or whatever it was.

"He decided to come back, which is great for us. Hopefully he can play his way into the lottery. So he's obviously at the top, but he's also one of your guys who can create for some other guys who can make a shot."

Oats proceeded to name a couple of other players, including two who sustained season-ending injuries in 2024-25 and are returning after being marked as medical redshirts.

"I think Trelly Wrightsell has made big shots here in the past. He's coming off an Achilles, but hopefully he's ready to go, shoot, hopefully Game 1, but if not then, pretty quick into the year.

"Houston Mallette is a transfer from Pepperdine that we redshirted last year to get his knees right. He's looking pretty good. He's definitely an option we've got.

"And then I think [Aden] Holloway has made some big shots."

Oats believes someone will emerge as the primary option for the last-second throughout the season, but it also "might be one of those deals where [it's] game-to-game." Nevertheless, Oats emphasized his confidence in the team's shooting ability, and it's not the first time he's said that this offseason.

"We're going to have a really good shooting team, maybe the best shooting team we've had since I've been there," Oats said on May 5. "There's shooting everywhere.

"Our bigs can shoot. Everybody in the front court. Really, there's not a non-shooter on the floor. We should have shooting everywhere. Our defense is going to have to get a little bit better, but we're going to have good versatility and good shooting next year."

Three of Alabama's four returners were among the Crimson Tide's top-4 players in three-point percentage last season. It's worth noting that Mallette (50 percent––No. 1) and Latrell Wrightsell Jr. (42.2 percent––No. 3), each played less than 10 games in 2024-25 due to their aforementioned season-ending injuries.

Holloway was fourth on the team in three-point percentage with 41.2 percent, and his 5.7 attempts per game from deep only trailed Sears for the Crimson Tide lead.

Philon shot 31.5 percent from behind the arc. Enhancing this major basketball attribute will not only be pivotal to his development, but Alabama's as well.

“Really just shooting. Really being able to be a high-level 3-point shooter,” Philon told Sleepers Media on July 22 when asked where he wants to improve. “I think a lot of things I missed out on last season are going to come into play this season.

"Everything’s been filled out and a lot more space being on the floor with all the guys around me that can shoot the ball really well is going to allow me to create open looks for them and get downhill while I can."

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