Who Will Oats Replace Holloway In The Starting Lineup With?
“Aden Holloway is averaging almost 17 points per game, shooting 43% from beyond the arc. You can’t replace those numbers. You just can’t,” ESPN’s Sean Farnham said on Get Up, about how Holloway’s absence will affect the Tide’s Tournament prospects. “What does that mean? The offense steps back just ever so slightly. Still going to be a very explosive offense, but it’s going to step back a little bit. What it also means is that a team like Alabama that has struggled at the defensive end of the floor, their margins have now gotten thinner.”
Oats has several options to replace Holloway. Oats has used 13 starting units with 10 different players picking up time with the first unit. Aiden Sherrell, Labaron Philon, and Amari Allen appear to be entrenched in the Oats starting unit. Latrell Wrightsell Jr. has started the last six games for the Tide and 16 of his 24 appearances. They are 10-6 when he starts.
Senior guard Houston Mallette is the leading candidate to replace Holloway. Mallette has served as the Tide’s 6th man most of the season, though he has started 12 games, including all three contests that Holloway has previously sat out. The Crimson Tide is 9-3 in the games that Mallette has started, and he has been much more productive with the first unit than coming off the bench.
Crimson Tide Injury Report
While Oats will likely keep Wrightsell in the starting lineup, Taylor Bowen Bol, and London Jemison would be alternative options. Freshman Jalil Bethea could be in line for more minutes depending on the Tide’s injury developments. On the positive side, Davion Hannah and Keiten Bristow have been upgraded to questionable. Both players have been out for over two months.
Hannah, a consensus top-50 2025 recruit, has been out since mid-December due to an undisclosed injury. Before the injury, the 6-6 freshman wing was a major part of Oats’ second unit, averaging 3.3 points with shooting splits of 46.2/36.4/62.5. Bristow has been hampered by injuries throughout the season and has been sidelined since January 10 with an ankle injury.
