Skip to main content
Join Now
Team Avatar
Alabama

Nate Oats speaks on Aden Holloway arrest: 'Now is the time he needs more love'

Grant Grubbs Profile Pictureby: Grant Grubbs03/19/26grant_grubbs_

On Monday, Alabama guard Aden Holloway was arrested and charged with first-degree possession of marijuana and failure to affix a tax stamp. He reportedly had 2.1 pounds of marijuana in his apartment.

He isn’t expected to play in Alabama’s first-round matchup against Hofstra on Friday. On Thursday, Alabama head coach Nate Oats revealed he’s spoken with Holloway in-person since his arrest.

“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,” Oats said. “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.

“… I don’t want to lose why I got into this thing in the first place. You get into it to help impact young men’s lives. Well, if you disappear when they make a mistake, I’m not so sure that’s a genuine relationship you’ve built.”

With 2.1 pounds of marijuana found in his apartment, Holloway narrowly avoided a drug trafficking charge. Holloway was “removed from campus” and isn’t currently with the team in Tampa, Florida.

Holloway paid his $5,000 bail shortly after being taken to the Tuscaloosa County Jail. Holloway is averaging 16.8 points, 2.8 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game this season, while shooting 48.1% from the field and 43.8% from beyond the arc.

For his efforts, he was named an All-SEC Second-Team member earlier this month. Now, Alabama must find a way to win without its star guard. Nonetheless, Nate Oats emphasized he will continue to support the junior standout.

“I’ve got three daughters. They’ve made mistakes. You don’t disappear on them when they need your help. I won’t be disappearing on him,” Oats said. “I talked to him yesterday morning on the phone. I talked to him the night before that. I’ve talked to him every day so far. I’m going to continue to talk to him, love him, help him through this, and we’ll see where it all takes us.”

Alabama will face off against 13-seed Hofstra at 2:15 p.m. CT on Friday inside Benchmark International Arena. The game will air live on TruTV. Alabama has advanced to at least the Sweet Sixteen in the past three NCAA Tournaments.