The Alabama Crimson Tide will face the Michigan Wolverines in the Sweet 16 of the men’s NCAA Tournament on Friday. Ahead of tipoff, there has been a new development regarding Alabama star Aden Holloway’s status.
Holloway was arrested earlier this month and charged with first-degree possession of marijuana and failure to affix a tax stamp, per the Tuscaloosa News.
Will Guard Aden Holloway Play in Alabama’s Sweet 16 Clash Against Michigan?
Since his arrest, Holloway has been absent from the Crimson Tide roster and has been removed from campus pending the investigation. He also did not travel with the team to Chicago for Friday’s Sweet 16 clash and was listed as “out” on the NCAA’s availability report.
A new development indicates that he has been granted permission to travel out of state and possibly link up with his teammates ahead of the Regional Semifinal. According to Matt Stahl of All Alabama, the guard had his motion to travel out of state granted by a Tuscaloosa district court judge on Friday morning.
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It remains to be seen whether this will be enough for Holloway to play for the Crimson Tide later on Friday. Per the report, he would also need to be cleared by Alabama’s student conduct office.
Alabama head coach Nate Oats spoke last week about wanting to support Holloway during this situation.
“Yeah, I’ve met with him in person, talked to him on the phone multiple times. Look, I’m an adult. I’ve made mistakes. We all have things we’d like to do differently. Now is not the time to ignore a kid that you’ve built a real relationship with. Now is the time he needs more love from the adults in his life than at any point,” he said during a press conference.
“I’m going to continue to talk to him, love him, help him through this, and we’ll see where it all takes us,” he added.
Tipoff is scheduled for 6:35 p.m. local time (7:35 p.m. ET), and more updates will likely be available then. The game will air live on TBS.
Having Holloway back in the rotation would certainly boost Alabama’s chances of pulling off an upset. The No. 4 seed has managed to overcome Hofstra and Texas Tech with relative ease in the guard’s absence. However, the Wolverines are the top seed in the Midwest Regional and will present the Crimson Tide with a much tougher test.
On the court, Holloway has enjoyed an impressive season and is Alabama’s second-leading scorer with 16.8 points per game. He also averages 3.8 assists and 2.8 rebounds per game while shooting 48.1% from the field.
