Aden Holloway reinstated at Alabama after drug arrest, suspended 2 games
Aden Holloway is being allowed to return to Alabama basketball this fall, the school told AL.com.
The reinstatement comes after his legal battle is behind him, following a drug arrest in March. Holloway reached a plea agreement with prosecutors earlier this summer and entered a "second chance" program in Tuscaloosa County, which included community service and educational classes.
He will be suspended for the team's first three exhibition games and the first two regular-season games against Sam Houston and Arkansas State. He'll be eligible to return against Oakland on Nov. 9.
No details on the exact terms of the reinstatement beyond the suspension schedule are confirmed.
THE ARREST AND LEGAL CASE
The trouble began the Monday before the NCAA tournament, when police executed a search warrant at Holloway’s apartment and found more than 2 pounds of marijuana. He was arrested on drug charges on the spot.
The case escalated quickly. Holloway was indicted on a felony drug possession charge, among other things, and faced a maximum of 10 years in jail and a $15,000 fine.
He reached a plea agreement with prosecutors earlier this summer and entered a "second chance" program in Tuscaloosa County. That program, available to him as a first-time offender with non-violent felonies, included community service and educational classes. The specific terms of the plea agreement are not detailed in the source.
MISSED POSTSEASON
The arrest came at the worst possible moment. Holloway was suspended as a result, and he missed the entire NCAA tournament.
Alabama pushed on without him. The Crimson Tide reached the Sweet 16, where their season ended with a loss to Michigan.
The fallout didn't stop at the court. Holloway was also banned from campus, a punishment that has since been overturned. No further details on the campus ban or its overturning have been provided.
Those two losses — Holloway for the postseason, the team in the regional semifinal — left a lingering question of what might have been. Alabama went 25-10 last season and reached the NCAA tournament for a sixth straight year, but Holloway's absence stripped the backcourt of its second-leading scorer at the exact moment the stakes were highest.
HIS ROLE AND NUMBERS
What Alabama is getting back is the player who carried the backcourt through most of last season. Holloway was the second-leading scorer for the Crimson Tide, and his 16.8 points per game came with 3.8 assists per contest in his second year with the program after transferring in from Auburn.
Those numbers made him the steady hand alongside a roster that pushed deep into March. Alabama finished 25-10 last season and reached the NCAA tournament for a sixth straight year, and the program is now chasing a fifth consecutive trip to the second weekend of the tournament. That is the standard Holloway returns to, and the schedule gives him time to settle in before the games that matter most.
His suspension covers the first three exhibitions and the first two regular-season games against Sam Houston and Arkansas State. Once that is done, he slots back into a rotation that already knows his game.
There is no confirmation yet on how the suspension will affect team chemistry or how the rotation shakes out in his absence. That part remains to be seen once he is back on the floor.
WHAT TO WATCH NEXT
The first chance to see him in a real game comes Nov. 9 against Oakland, when he becomes eligible to return after sitting out the opener against Sam Houston and the home game against Arkansas State.
Alabama will play three exhibitions before any of that, and Holloway will watch all of them from the sideline. The schedule gives him time to ramp up before the games that carry real weight in the postseason picture.
There is no confirmation yet on how the team will perform in the games he misses. That part remains to be seen once he is back on the floor.
What is known is the role waiting for him. Holloway was the steady hand beside a roster that pushed deep into March, and the Crimson Tide are chasing a fifth consecutive trip to the second weekend of the NCAA tournament. That standard is the one he returns to.
The suspension is finite. The boost he provides should not be.
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