Alabama guard Aden Holloway has been removed from the team pending the outcome of the school’s investigation following his arrest Monday on felony drug possession charges, ESPN reported. Fourth-seeded Alabama (23-9) plays Hofstra in Friday’s first round of March Madness.
A spokesperson for the Tuscaloosa Police Department told CBS News that the West Alabama Narcotics Task Force searched Holloway’s residence Monday and discovered more than a pound of marijuana, paraphernalia and cash.
In a statement, the Tuscaloosa PD spokesperson said Holloway has been charged with first-degree possession of marijuana and failure to affix a tax stamp. Both charges are felonies in the state of Alabama.
Holloway was transported to the Tuscaloosa County Jail on Monday morning with a bond set at $5,000.
The junior guard is Alabama’s second-leading scorer this season at 16.8 points per game and is shooting 48.1% from the field.
Alabama is expected to be without Holloway when it faces Hofstra on Friday in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
“Look, we’ve got standards in our program,” Alabama coach Nate Oats said. “We’ve got ways we’ve held our guys accountable, and we try to keep everything in house. Obviously, some of the situations, you can’t. This is one of those.”
Late Monday afternoon, the University of Alabama released the following statement regarding Holloway’s arrest: “The University is aware of the allegations and is working to gather more information. The student has been removed from campus pending further investigation by the UA Office of Student Conduct.”
A former Auburn transfer, Holloway has spent the last two seasons at Alabama, but this is his first as an every-game starter for Oats’ team. He’s averaging career-highs across several statistical categories, including a 43.8% success rate from beyond the arc. When Alabama is playing at its best offensively, the combination of Labaron Philon Jr. and Holloway in the backcourt is one of college basketball’s most lethal combinations.
Alabama coach Nate Oats is not a fan of the Crimson Tide’s placement in the Midwest Region of the bracket.
“Hofstra’s good. I can’t say I love the draw,” Oats said Sunday. “It’s not easy to do what we’ve done. Having said that, I didn’t plan on being a four seed this year. Our players didn’t plan on it.”
The Crimson Tide is coming off an 80-79 loss to Ole Miss in the SEC Tournament quarterfinals last week.
CBS National Basketball Writer Isaac Trotter on the impact that potentially losing Aden Holloway would have on Alabama:
Mark Sears was a First Team All-American a year ago for Alabama. Analytically, Holloway’s 2025-26 season bests Sears’ 2024-25 campaign
He’s that good.
This could shape up to be a major loss for the Crimson Tide. Alabama is so clearly the best version of itself with Holloway on the floor, and the numbers back it up. Alabama has a +9 net rating with Holloway on the floor against top-100 teams, per hoop-explorer. It sinks to a -0.5 net rating when Holloway sits.
If Holloway misses serious time, there’s a massive shot-making and shot-creation void in Alabama’s lineup. Thankfully, Nate Oats does have real depth accrued. Trustworthy senior Houston Mallette would undoubtedly get more tick and figures to be inserted into Holloway’s slot in the starting lineup. Mallette isn’t much of a creator, but he can drill 3s at a 35% clip.
Latrell Wrightsell Jr., Jalil Bethea and Amari Allen would also get a bigger piece of the pie, plus superstar sophomore guard Labaron Philon would need to shoulder even more of the true traditional point guard duties.
