Shortly before tip-off of Alabama basketball's regular season opener against UNC Asheville at Coleman Coliseum, head coach Nate Oats announced that two Tide hoops players will be transferring for the 2024-25 season.
One of those players, freshman Naas Cunningham, comes as no surprise. Cunningham struggled to find minutes during the exhibition schedule despite four likely contributors missing both games due to various injuries.
Cunningham was a Top-50 recruit in the 2024 cycle, but is raw and needs time to develop.
Oats raised eyebrows on Thursday, though, when he stated that Alabama may redshirt "a player or two." Cunningham was obvious, but there was no other obvious candidate on the roster to take a redshirt.
As it turns out, that player is Pepperdine transfer Houston Mallette, who has one year of eligibility remaining.
Alabama will be redshirting freshman Naas Cunningham and senior Houston Mallette for the 2024-25 season, Nate Oats just announced on the CTSN pregame show.https://t.co/ztu9uESlzP pic.twitter.com/J8tBkX5ELz
— Blake Byler (@blakebyler45) November 5, 2024
Mallette was the first transfer to join Alabama this offseason, committing to a very different roster than what he ultimately walked into during the summer. Mallette had an uncertain role on this team, though he flashed his potential by knocking down six three-pointers across the two exhibition games and looked to have carved out some kind of role.
But Mallette only has one year left to play college basketball, and he clearly wants a bigger role than what he is going to get in Tuscaloosa this season. Oats said on Thursday the decision to redshirt won't be made by just him, but in conjunction with the player to ensure they are doing what is best for the individual.
Cunningham and Mallette sticking with the team and this being announced publicly before tip-off of the regular season points to both accepting this decision and returning to Tuscaloosa for next season.