Aden Holloway arrest: Nate Oats reacts to Alabama investigation, confirms suspension

Alabama is dealing with an off-court issue heading into the NCAA Tournament. Guard Aden Holloway was arrested on Monday morning, facing drug charges after the West Alabama Narcotics Task Force reportedly recovered more than a pound of marijuana, paraphernalia, and cash. Police then transported Holloway to Tuscaloosa County Jail, and a bond of $5,000 was set.

Head coach Nate Oats has now commented on the matter, saying Alabama is “disappointed” in Holloway. He confirmed a suspension is part of the punishment after the school released a statement of their own, revealing Holloway was removed from campus.

“We’ve got standards in our program,” Oats said via Hey Coach. “We’ve got ways we hold our guys accountable and we try to keep everything in-house. Obviously, some of the situations, you can’t and this is one of those. This situation is a little different when we found out what was going on this morning. I found out this morning. I guess it all went down this morning. So, we had to suspend him, pending the investigation from the UA Office of Student Conduct. We’re certainly disappointed in his behavior.”

At the same time, Alabama plans to continue to support Holloway, according to Oats. He knows the team will have to move forward with an NCAA Tournament game looming vs. Hofstra on Friday. And while Holloway will not be a part of the postseason, Oats will be there to help when needed.

“That being said, we still love him,” Oats said. “He’s still our guy. We’re helping him get the help he needs. We’re going to continue to help him in whatever way we can.”

Aden Holloway arrested following productive season at Alabama

Holloway is in his second season at Alabama, originally beginning his career at Auburn. A rare transfer between the two bitter rivals, Holloway grew into an important role this year. He finished as Alabama’s second-leading scorer, only trailing Labaron Philon. Losing that kind of production would be a massive blow for the Crimson Tide.

In 28 games played, Holloway averaged 16.8 points per game while shooting 48.1% from the field. Everyone knows Alabama is looking to get up a decent amount of three-point attempts. Holloway gets his fair share, firing off six every time out there. He makes them at an incredibly high clip too, with his average sitting at 43.8%.

You have to go back to Jan. 27 to find the last time Holloway was not in double-figures. Three different 20-point efforts are in the game logs during the stretch. Another one was almost recorded on Friday in the SEC Tournament vs. Ole Miss, getting 18 points in the losing effort. It’s been a consistent final two months of the season for the guard, as Alabama turned its campaign around at the right time.