Why Houston Mallette Is Alabama's X-Factor: Just A Minute

Welcome to BamaCentral’s "Just a Minute," a video series featuring BamaCentral's Alabama beat writers. Multiple times per week, the writers will group up or film solo to provide their take on a topic concerning the Crimson Tide or the landscape of college sports.

Watch the above video as BamaCentral's Theodore Fernandez breaks down Houston Mallette's performances from Alabama's wins over Auburn and Texas A&M and analyzes the value he provides for Alabama basketball.

Houston Mallette has been an underwhelming piece of Alabama's 2025-26 roster by many metrics. The fifth-year senior is averaging 7.1 points per game on average efficiency, while looking like an awkward fit in the Crimson Tide's offense for much of the season. Mallette, the subject of much negative discourse from fans entering the month of February, delivered two critical performances for Alabama this past week as the Crimson Tide beat Texas A&M and Auburn.

Mallette scored 12 points with five rebounds against the Aggies last Wednesday. His biggest play was an offensive rebound that he tipped out to Latrell Wrightsell for a buzzer-beating three-pointer at the end of the first half of a game that Alabama only won by three points. Mallette followed that up with a near-perfect performance against Auburn on Saturday, where he went 2-for-3 from the field (all threes) with six points and zero turnovers.

Houston Mallette makes a blue-collar play to end the half, tipping the ball out to Latrell Wrightsell Jr., who drains a three at the buzzer. Noah Williamson hypes them up leaving the court

Alabama and Texas A&M are tied at 46 pic.twitter.com/8VH5egSTO1
— Theodore Fernandez (@TheoFernandez__) February 5, 2026

Mallette has managed to avoid hurting Alabama's offense in any significant way over these past two games. He has struggled to fit into the offense at times this year, leading to frustration, particularly over his unwillingness to drive with the ball.

His primary job on that end of the floor is always going to be to get open looks from beyond the arc, where he, despite his struggles this season, is one of the better shooters on the team. Mallette is shooting 35.7% from three this year, down from 41.5% in his last full season with Pepperdine in 2024, but went 6-for-11 in last week's games.

Mallette's biggest impact on the team comes through his leadership. Nate Oats described him as one of his favorite players he has ever coached, and Mallette is looked up to by just about the entire roster. He has won Oats' hard hat twice this season, and one would be hard-pressed to find an example of Mallette showing anything less than the absolute maximum effort on any given play (highlighted by his dive into the lap of an elderly Tigers' fan in Saturday's game).

If Mallette truly has turned a corner and can deliver consistent performances like the ones displayed last week, it could change the trajectory of the Crimson Tide's season. With an unusually easy stretch of SEC play over the next two weeks, everything is lining up for Alabama to go on a late-February run and gain serious momentum entering the final two weeks of the season.