Alabama's Labaron Philon Erupts in Win Against Mississippi State

The Alabama Crimson Tide suffered a tough loss over the weekend.

Nate Oats' team squared off against a Texas squad coming off back-to-back losses to begin SEC play, but fell 92-88 at home to the Longhorns. The Crimson Tide responded on Tuesday night, however, taking down Mississippi State 97-82 on the road to even No. 18 Alabama's record in conference play.

With the win, the Crimson Tide improved to 12-5 on the season, led by the efforts of potential lottery pick Labaron Philon. The sophomore guard had another strong performance against the Bulldogs on Tuesday night, finishing with 32 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists and just one turnover while shooting 10-of-14 from the field, 3-of-5 from 3-point range and 9-of-10 from the free throw line.

Philon's impressive performance came after the Crimson Tide star struggled with turnovers in each of the team's previous two games. While Philon still notched solid scoring outputs, the second-year standout turned the ball over five times against Texas, and finished with 4 turnovers in a loss to Vanderbilt on Jan. 7.

Still, despite the aforementioned showings, Philon has had a strong sophomore season. The former four-star recruit is averaging 21.9 points, 4.9 assists, 3.4 rebounds and 1.4 steals per game while shooting 54.3% from the field and 37.6% from beyond the arc.

Philon's scoring output and shooting efficency have made an impressive jump from his freshman season. In 2024-25, the Link Academy product tallied 10.6 points, 3.8 assists, 3.3 rebounds and 1.4 steals per game while shooting 45.2% from the field and 31.5% from deep.

Of course, Philon hasn't played against the bulk of Alabama's SEC schedule yet, and could see his numbers decrease slightly, but there's no doubt the sophomore has made significant improvements after a solid freshman campaign.

With those improvements, Philon has been mentioned as a likely lottery pick in the 2026 NBA Draft.

In a recent mock draft, NBA Draft analyst Derek Parker paired Philon with the Dallas Mavericks at No. 9 overall. This seems to be a good fit for a Dallas team that has a few of solid young pieces, but is still searching for a long-term answer at point guard to compliment Cooper Flagg, Dereck Lively II and others.

Philon tested the NBA Draft waters in 2025, but elected to return to Alabama, which now appears to be a wise decision. At the combine, the skilled guard measured 6-foot-2 and three quarters of an inch without shoes while recording a 6-foot-6 and a quarter of an inch wingspan.

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