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Nate Oats and the Alabama Crimson Tide are gearing up for the 2024-25 college basketball season. The Tide are coming off a Final Four appearance and enter this season at No. 2 in the AP Top 25.
Ahead of the season-opening matchup with UNC Asheville on Monday, Oats announced that 2 players will redshirt this season. Incoming transfer Houston Mallette and freshman Naas Cunningham will both sit out the 2024-25 campaign, Oats said on the Crimson Tide Sports Network.
Mallette transferred to Alabama from Pepperdine. The guard has 1 year of eligibility remaining. Mallette averaged 14.7 points and 3.2 rebounds per game for the Waves in 2023-24.
“We decided, kind of talking to them and their families, we’re gonna redshirt Houston Mallette and Naas Cunningham. Houston, more he missed the entire summer with some knee injuries. And for his one year of college basketball he has left, he wants to have the best offseason he can going into it,” said Oats of Mallett.
Cunningham is a freshman who was rated as a 4-star recruit in the 2023-24 class.
Nate Oats to @UA_CTSN pregame: “We decided, kind of talking to them and their families, we’re gonna redshirt Houston Mallette and Naas Cunningham. Houston, more he missed the entire summer with some knee injuries. And for his one year of college basketball he has left, he wants… https://t.co/vRO0arU772
— Mike Rodak (@mikerodak) November 5, 2024
Even with these 2 players out for the season, the Tide will have a full allotment of 13 scholarship players. Oats has referred to this squad as his deepest team since arriving in Tuscaloosa in 2019.
Bryce Lazenby covers college football for Saturday Down South. A Nashville native, his previous stops include FanSided, Dimers, and The Leaf-Chronicle.
