Nate Oats shares level of NBA feedback on Labaron Philon

Alabama head coach Nate Oats would love to have star point guard Labaron Philon back for another year. However, that’s not the current plan, Oats revealed in a recent interview.

After Philon saw his draft stock soar over the final half of his freshman season, he declared for the draft, and he was recently invited to the NBA Draft Combine later this month. Philon recently said he is committed to seeing the draft process through, but he also said that “you never know what can happen,” not entirely shutting the door on a return to college basketball.

While Philon is not putting all his eggs in one basket, Oats revealed he’s heard a lot of “really good feedback” from the NBA. His current expectation is that Philon will go down as a really good success story after just one season for Alabama basketball.

“Now we’re getting really good feedback from the NBA. He’s got to go to the combine, he’s got to test well, he’s got to do well in the workouts, but what I’m hearing is that he’s going to get drafted,” said Oats. “I’m sure it will be a great success story. He comes in, he’s not on anybody’s draft board, plays well for us, and ends up getting drafted after a year with us. That’s the plan right now.”

Coming out of high school, Philon was a 4-star recruit and the No. 4 point guard nationally for the 2024 recruiting class, according to the 247 Sports Composite. He was overshadowed by more prominent NBA prospects nationally, but he grew throughout the season and finished as Alabama’s 4th-leading scorer at 10.6 points per game.

Now, Philon has a shot to solidify his outlook for the NBA Draft.

Paul Harvey

Paul Harvey lives in Atlanta and covers SEC football.