'I Won't be Disappearing on Him': Nate Oats Provides Update on Aden Holloway

The Alabama head coach gives an update on his guard following the arrest, and Oats deciphers the possibility of a return from Holloway during the NCAA Tournament.

Mar 27, 2025; Newark, NJ, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide guard Aden Holloway (2) talks to head coach Nate Oats during the second half against the Brigham Young Cougars during an East Regional semifinal of the 2025 NCAA tournament at Prudential Center. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images | Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

Alabama basketball will officially be without its second-best scorer for Friday's NCAA Tournament game against Hofstra.

Crimson Tide 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 this first-round matchup.

But if Holloway wins his student conduct appeal next week, is there a chance that he plays later in March Madness (should the Tide advance)?

"You know what, I'm not sure where that's all going to go," Oats said on Thursday in Tampa. "We'll kind of address things as they come up. But for right now, the team is just preparing to play with who's at practice, and he's obviously not there. We'll prepare to play without him and address that matter if it comes up."

Oats showed support on Monday for Holloway, as "Aden is one of our guys and everybody wants to wrap their arms around him and love him."

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).

Fast forward to today, Oats is still very much in contact with Holloway. He's talked to him on the phone multiple times and even met with the 21-year-old in person before the team left for Tampa.

"Look, I'm an adult. I've made mistakes. We all have things we'd like to do differently," Oats said. "Now is not the time to ignore a kid that you've built a real relationship with. Now is the time he needs more love from the adults in his life than at any point."

Oats proceeded to go back a couple of decades to create an example for Holloway's situation.

"When I got into coaching, way back when I first got out of college and I was a Division III assistant making no money and then I went to a high school job in the Detroit area for 11 years," Oats said. "To basically coach for no money for 16 years, you'd better be doing it for the right reasons because you're losing an awful lot of money spending all the hours, money, time traveling to kids for official visits.

"I've got to remind myself I'm a high school coach that's caught some breaks up here. But I don't want to lose why I got into this thing in the first place. You get into it to help impact young men's lives. Well, if you disappear when they make a mistake, I'm not so sure that's a genuine relationship you've built.

"I've got three daughters. They've made mistakes. You don't disappear on them when they need your help. I won't be disappearing on him. I talked to him yesterday morning on the phone. I talked to him the night before that. I've talked to him every day so far. I'm going to continue to talk to him, love him, help him through this, and we'll see where it all takes us.

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