{"id":181838,"date":"2026-03-17T21:38:53","date_gmt":"2026-03-18T01:38:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=181838"},"modified":"2026-03-17T21:38:53","modified_gmt":"2026-03-18T01:38:53","slug":"how-aden-holloways-suspension-affect-alabama-ncaa-tourney-hopes-and-will-he-play-again-for-the-crimson-tide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2026\/03\/17\/how-aden-holloways-suspension-affect-alabama-ncaa-tourney-hopes-and-will-he-play-again-for-the-crimson-tide\/","title":{"rendered":"How Aden Holloway’s Suspension Affect Alabama NCAA Tourney Hopes, And Will He Play Again For The Crimson Tide?"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Alabama Crimson Tide will head into the 2026 NCAA Tournament<\/a> without star guard Aden Holloway<\/a>. How will Holloway’s absence affect the Crimson Tide, and will the junior guard play for them again?<\/p>\n

How Aden Holloway’s Suspension Affects Alabama NCAA Tourney Hopes, And Will He Play Again For The Crimson Tide?<\/h2>\n

Alabama suspended Holloway\u00a0and is not permitted on the Crimson Tide’s campus<\/a> on Monday following a raid of his apartment earlier that morning. Holloway was charged with two felonies — first-degree possession of marijuana and failing to affix a tax stamp.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re disappointed in his behavior,\u201d coach Nate Oats<\/a> said on his radio show Monday<\/a>. \u201cWith that said, we still love him. He\u2019s still our guy. We\u2019re going to get him the help that he needs, and we\u2019re going to continue to help him in whatever way we can.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

In an update earlier this morning, according to Nick Kelly of AL.com<\/a>, a little more than two pounds of marijuana was found. Kelly added that Halloway’s charge sheet stated that West Alabama “drug agents found loose marijuana, a vacuum-sealed bag with marijuana, a rolling tray, and packaging material.”<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHolloway stated that he wanted to remain silent, but then stated that he only smokes,\u201d an agent from the West Alabama Narcotics Task Force wrote in court records.<\/span><\/p>\n

Alabama<\/a> (23-9), ranked 15th in the AP Poll<\/a>, is seeded fourth in the Midwest Region. The Crimson Tide enters its Friday game against No. 13-seeded Hofstra Pride in good form, having won nine of its last 11 overall. But they have lost two of their last three and were surprisingly ousted in the SEC<\/a> quarterfinals by Ole Miss (80-79).<\/p>\n

If Bama handles Hofstra in the first round, they will play the winner of Texas Tech and Akron.<\/p>\n

\u00a9 ANDREW NELLES, The Tennessean<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"\"
Andrew Nelles, The Tennessean<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Will Holloway Play Again For The Crimson Tide?<\/h3>\n

At this point, it is hard to tell if Holloway will ever wear an Alabama uniform again, but look for him to play in the 2026 NCAA Tournament despite Oats comments. Holloway would have a long haul to overcome this arrest, but isn’t his first run in with the law.<\/p>\n

Jason Neff, Holloway’s attorney, told Myron Metcalf of ESPN today that Holloway<\/a> “Was stopped for reckless driving and given a citation after police also found a small amount of marijuana in his vehicle last week during a traffic stop, days before his arrest.” Neff said he doesn’t believe the two incidents are connected.<\/span><\/p>\n

Metcalf said that Neff added that he has requested a hearing with school officials to reverse his campus ban — known as an “interim measure” — so he can return to class. Since Alabama is on spring break, a hearing that is typically scheduled a day or two after a request might not happen until next week.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

According to Neff, there is no proof that Holloway was selling the marijuana. However, the authorities have said that Holloway did not have a prescription for the promethazine, which was also found in his apartment.\u00a0Therefore, he could face another charge.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

One particular concern that Neff noted is that the state of Alabama moves slowly with felony drug cases. Holloway likely won’t have his preliminary hearing for at least 6 weeks, and it might take 1.5 years for the case to reach its conclusion.<\/span><\/p>\n

“He has no criminal history,” Neff said. “If he were to plead out or even go to trial, the judge could give him probation. It is a felony. For a 21-year-old man trying to get through college and get to the NBA, a felony issue could be a major issue long term.”<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/smartframe-embed><\/p><\/h3>\n

How will Holloway’s Absence Affect The Crimson Tide?<\/h3>\n

Holloway, a 6-1 junior, has shown tremendous growth in year two with the Crimson Tide and is a major reason that they are one of the top offensive teams in the nation. Holloway averaged 16.1 points, 3.8 assists, and 2.6 rebounds in 28.4 minutes over 28 appearances. He also knocked down 2.6 threes and produced two double-doubles with shooting splits of 48.1\/43.8\/86.4. His numbers were pretty steady during SEC play with a little dropoff.<\/p>\n

Alabama is an outstanding offensive team that plays fast and goes nine deep. The Crimson Tide, which ranks 10th in the nation in offensive efficiency, averages a nation-high 91.7 points a game. The Tide also leads the nation in 3-point attempts (35.3) and is second
\n(12.7) in makes while ranking 81st in 3-point percentage (35.8%). They also don’t turn the ball over much.<\/p>\n

Defense is a problem for the Crimson Tide. The Tide is 291st in defensive efficiency nationally, allowing 83.5 points per game, which is the 10th-worst. They also don’t force many turnovers.<\/p>\n

With the way Oats likes to play offensively — focusing on pace, space, and 3-point barrage — the Crimson Tide should be able to handle being out of Holloway on the offensive end. The Crimson Tide is 3-0 without Holloway, one of the team’s weakest defenders, this year after he sat out three of the first 10 games. Clemson was the Tide’s toughest opponent of the three games, and they picked up a 90-84 victory.<\/p>\n

In the three games that Holloway sat out, the Crimson Tide outscored its opponents 93-67. However, Clemson was the Tide’s only power-6 opponent during this stretch, and they won that game 90-84. And Bama was much deeper earlier in the season.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/smartframe-embed><\/p><\/h3>\n

Who Will Oats Replace Holloway In The Starting Lineup With?<\/h3>\n

\u201cAden Holloway is averaging almost 17 points per game, shooting 43% from beyond the arc. You can\u2019t replace those numbers. You just can\u2019t,\u201d ESPN’s Sean Farnham said on Get Up<\/a>, about how Holloway’s absence will affect the Tide’s Tournament prospects. \u201cWhat does that mean? The offense steps back just ever so slightly. Still going to be a very explosive offense, but it\u2019s 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.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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<\/a>, Labaron Philon<\/a>, and Amari Allen<\/a> appear to be entrenched in the Oats starting unit. \u00a0<\/a>Latrell Wrightsell Jr<\/a>. has started the last six games for the Tide and 16 of his 24 appearances. They are 10-6 when he starts.<\/p>\n

Senior guard Houston Mallette<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n

Crimson Tide Injury Report<\/h4>\n

While Oats will likely keep Wrightsell in the starting lineup,\u00a0 Taylor Bowen Bol<\/a>, and London Jemison<\/a> 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<\/a> and Keiten Bristow<\/a> have been upgraded to questionable<\/a>. Both players have been out for over two months.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Alabama Crimson Tide will head into the 2026 NCAA Tournament without star guard Aden Holloway. How will Holloway’s absence affect the Crimson Tide, and will the junior guard play for them again? How Aden Holloway’s Suspension Affects Alabama NCAA Tourney Hopes, And Will He Play Again For The Crimson Tide? Alabama suspended Holloway\u00a0and is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3146,"featured_media":182050,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1608,773,2,3],"tags":[1504,832,1436],"class_list":["post-181838","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-basketball","category-college-basketball","category-featured","category-news","tag-alabama-crimson-tide","tag-ncaa-tournament","tag-sec-basketball"],"modified_by":"Daniel Benjamin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/181838","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3146"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=181838"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/181838\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":182053,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/181838\/revisions\/182053"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/182050"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=181838"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=181838"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=181838"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}