Labaron Philon, Houston Mallette discuss playing without Aden Holloway
By Sydney Hunte
Published:
Alabama begins its NCAA Tournament run on Friday afternoon against Hofstra in Tampa.
The Crimson Tide, of course, will be doing it without Aden Holloway. The team’s second-leading scorer was arrested on felony drug charges on Monday and has been suspended from the program indefinitely.
Holloway’s arrest so close to the tournament is a massive blow for an Alabama team looking for a second Final Four appearance in three years. But they’ll need to move on without him.
“I would say you’ve got to step up,” Labaron Philon Jr., the Tide’s leading scorer with 21.7 points per game, said on Thursday. “Guys got to be aggressive and we’ve just got to play like we were shot out of a cannon. We’ve been pressing really hard getting up and down a bit, but we’re going to have our legs and we’re going to be ready.”
Teammate Houston Mallette raised some names that could help fill the void left by Holloway.
“I think Taylor Bol Bowen has been playing his best basketball recently. Obviously, the addition of Noah Williamson, he played a lot of minutes against Ole Miss, and he was incredible,” Mallette said. “Jalil Bethea, he’s special. The way he’s handled adversity throughout this year, he was hurt to start the year. … and his approach in practice every day, he’s gotten a whole lot better, and he makes us better.”
The Tide will be facing a Hofstra group that has hit its stride over the past several weeks. After an eight-game win streak, the Pride dropped five in a row. Since then, they’ve gone 11-1, including a 75-69 win over Monmouth to win the CAA Tournament.
Despite entering the tournament facing adversity, Alabama is a tight-knit group, Mallette said.
“We all love each other. There’s real genuine love here,” he said. “Selfless love is one of our core values, and we’re just excited for each other.”
According to Kalshi, Alabama is an overwhelming favorite to defeat Hofstra in the first round.
Sydney is an Atlanta-based journalist who has covered everything from SEC and ACC football to MLS, the U.S. men's national soccer team and professional tennis. His work has appeared on such platforms as SB Nation, Cox Media Group and FanSided.
