After a 2-Game Suspension, Aden Holloway Returns to Alabama Nov. 9

Photo: Alabama Athletics (RollTide.com). Official Aden Holloway headshot, Alabama Crimson Tide.

Alabama will hold Aden Holloway out of all three exhibitions and its first two regular-season games, then put its leading returning scorer back on the floor Nov. 9 against Oakland. AL.com reported the suspension Tuesday, one week after the felony marijuana charges from his March arrest were dismissed when he finished a second-chance program.

"We were disappointed by the choices Aden made, but we have been encouraged by the way he has responded," athletics director Greg Byrne told AL.com. Holloway completed 50 hours of community service and passed drug and alcohol screenings as part of the program.

Only two of the five games count. Holloway sits for Furman on Thursday in Coleman Coliseum, Ole Miss on Oct. 15 in Birmingham and Auburn on Oct. 22, then misses the Nov. 3 opener against Sam Houston and the Nov. 6 game against Arkansas State. The real price is reps. Nate Oats gets 32 days and five games to settle a rotation, and his best guard will not be in any of them. Holloway has not played a game since before his March 16 arrest. By the time he checks in against Oakland, that gap will be 238 days.

Holloway's last full season shows what Alabama has been missing. He averaged 16.8 points, 3.8 assists and 2.8 rebounds, shot 48.0% from the field in the regular season and made the All-SEC third team on March 9. He did most of it as the second option. Labaron Philon Jr. ran the offense, and Holloway, a sixth man the year before after transferring from Auburn, played off him as a secondary creator who could still finish possessions. Philon is gone now, taken No. 22 by the 76ers in June. Jalil Bethea left for Pittsburgh and Davion Hannah left for South Carolina. That is three guards out of last year's room.

Photo: Alabama Athletics (RollTide.com). Aden Holloway shooting a jumper at Mississippi State.

The depth chart is thinnest right where the suspension hits. Alabama lists 15 players and three true guards: Holloway, senior Preston Murphy Jr. and freshman Anderson Diaz. Murphy appeared in eight games last season after averaging 14.4 points and 4.1 assists as a starter at Northern Oklahoma College. Diaz is the natural point guard of the group. The 6-foot-1 freshman reclassified out of the 2027 class, ranked as the No. 6 point guard in 2026 by 247Sports, and averaged 17.2 points and 7.0 assists for the Cold Hearts at Overtime Elite. Oats called him a "dynamic playmaker" when he signed in July.

Watch who brings it up against Furman. If Diaz starts and runs it, the two November games become his audition with the lights on. Amari Allen is the other answer. He is a forward, but his 100 assists as a freshman were six shy of Holloway's and more than any other returning player had, with 3.1 assists against 1.4 turnovers a game. Diaz at the point with Allen as the second handler is one way Oats could line it up for those two games, with Murphy and freshman wing Qayden Samuels as the other ballhandlers Oats can lean on.

The return is where the suspension could help Oats. Holloway was at his best last season playing next to a primary handler. If Diaz earns real trust in October and early November, Oats can slide Holloway back into the off-ball creator role he already knows, with Diaz or Allen setting him up. If Diaz struggles, Holloway comes back on Nov. 9 to run the whole offense on day one after nearly eight months off. The three transfers up front, Brandon Garrison from Kentucky, Drew Fielder from Boise State and Jamarion Davis-Fleming from Mississippi State, plus former NC State signee Cole Cloer, will need someone to feed them either way.

Alabama already knows it can win without Holloway for a stretch. The Tide beat Hofstra and Texas Tech in the NCAA Tournament after his suspension and reached the Sweet 16 before losing to eventual champion Michigan. Philon was on that team.

Sources

• AL.com: Aden Holloway returns to Alabama basketball roster but suspended to start season. Nick Kelly, Oct. 6, 2026. Five-game suspension (Furman, Ole Miss, Auburn exhibitions; Sam Houston, Arkansas State), Nov. 9 return vs. Oakland, Byrne statement.
• CBS Sports: Alabama reinstates Aden Holloway. Oct. 6, 2026. 16.8 points, 3.8 assists, 2.8 rebounds in 2025-26; transferred from Auburn in 2024; Sweet 16 run without him (Hofstra, Texas Tech, lost to champion Michigan); Nov. 3 opener vs. Sam Houston.
• Alabama on SI: Holloway back on roster, to serve suspension. Hunter De Siver, Oct. 6, 2026. Exhibition and game dates; March 16 arrest and suspension; 50 hours community service and screenings; 48.0% FG regular season; All-SEC third team March 9; sixth man in 2024-25; 15-man roster with three true guards.
• Tuscaloosa News via Gadsden Times: Alabama's point guard options with or without Holloway. Emilee Smarr, Oct. 5, 2026. Charges dismissed Sept. 29; Allen 100 assists (six shy of Holloway), 3.1 apg, 1.4 TO; Diaz 6-1, No. 6 PG (247Sports), reclassified from 2027, OTE 17.2 pts / 7.0 ast, Oats "dynamic playmaker"; Murphy eight games, 14.4 pts / 4.1 ast at Northern Oklahoma College; Holloway as secondary creator.
• Roll Tide Wire (USA TODAY): Labaron Philon named best pick of 2026 NBA draft. June 24, 2026. Philon No. 22 to the 76ers.
• 2026-27 Alabama Crimson Tide men's basketball team (Wikipedia, citing AL.com, Post-Gazette). Bethea to Pittsburgh, Hannah to South Carolina; transfers Garrison (Kentucky), Fielder (Boise State), Davis-Fleming (Mississippi State), plus former NC State signee Cloer; Oct. 15 Ole Miss in Birmingham.