Nate Oats Shares Chances of Labaron Philon, Aiden Sherrell Facing Texas

The Alabama head coach provides health updates for two key starters before the Crimson Tide takes on the Longhorns at home.

Jan 7, 2026; Nashville, Tennessee, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide guard Labaron Philon (0) passes the ball against the Vanderbilt Commodores during the first half at Memorial Gymnasium. Mandatory Credit: Steve Roberts-Imagn Images | Steve Roberts-Imagn Images

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — During No. 13 Alabama men's basketball's road loss to No. 11 Vanderbilt on Wednesday night, the Crimson Tide had multiple either miss the game or exit early.

Preseason All-SEC guard Labaron Philon Jr., who was named to the top 25 watch list on Wednesday afternoon, was taken out of the game with just over 16 minutes remaining in regulation and he never returned to the floor. Alabama head coach Nate Oats said after the game that Philon had "full-body cramps" despite only being on the floord for 19 minutes.

While Philon didn't play for most of the second half, the same could be said for guard Davion Hannah, center Collins Onyejiaka and forward Aiden Sherrell. Hannah and Onyejiaka were both listed as out on the availability report before the game due to medical conditions, but Sherrell was listed as a game-time decision. He dressed in the Alabama uniform, but never saw time on the floor in Nashville.

The Crimson Tide will face Texas at home on Saturday, and Oats shared the latest injury updates for some of the aforementioned players on Friday afternoon.

"Aiden Sherrell practiced some today," Oats said. "We'll see how he responds tomorrow. He'll be a game-time decision. Hopefully he feels better than he did Wednesday before the [Vanderbilt] game.

"Labaron practiced. He's not quite 100 percent, but he's not a guy that wants to sit out games. I anticipate him playing and hopefully we've got the cramping issue under control. That's that. We've just got to continue to get healthy."

Philon and Sherrell are two of Alabama's five returners from last year's team. The sophomores both started in every game that they've played this season and have been pivotal to the Crimson Tide's success.

Coming into the Vanderbilt game, Philon, a three-time SEC Player of the Week this season, was averaging 21.5 points, 3.6 rebounds and 5.4 assists in 28.7 minutes per game. He's played in all but one game for the Tide, as he missed the Yale game due to a minor thigh/groin injury.

Prior to the loss to the Commodores, Sherrell, who played the fewest minutes per game on the team during his freshman campaign, is averaging 8.7 points, 6.0 rebounds, including 2.4 on the offensive glass, and he leads the SEC in blocks per game with 2.8 in 20.4 minutes per contest.

As these two continue to heal, Alabama is turning the page to Texas.

The Longhorns look a bit different than the last time that the Crimson Tide played them, as Texas fired head coach Rodney Terry at the end of 2024-25 season. In his place is Sean Miller, who spent the last three years at Xavier.

Subscribe to BamaCentral's Free Newsletter