The Alabama Crimson Tide is establishing itself as one of the top basketball programs in the country after Nate Oats brilliantly coached the team to five consecutive March Madness runs in his six years leading the program.
The Tuscaloosa-based squad has plenty of players who helped usher this golden age of Bama ball, but Labaron Philon is one of the more standout players in the roster. The 6’4″ freshman guard out of Mobile, AL has played phenomenal ball in his first full campaign for his hometown team.
Putting up good numbers in the NCAA as a true freshman should get the 32nd-ranked player of the 2024 recruiting class some interest from NBA teams. However, it seems like the guard is taking the jump to the pros a lot more seriously than some people imagined.
Labaron Philon carefully considers leaving the Alabama Crimson Tide for the NBA
Their most recent run ended in a bitter loss at the hands of Cooper Flagg and Duke. The 65-85 game was a one-sided beatdown of the third-ranked SEC powerhouse.
Philon had a solid game for the Tide, bagging 16 points on four-of-nine shooting with five boards, three assists, and three steals. However, the rest of his teammates failed to step up the way they did in previous rounds.
Reporters asked the freshman about his plans after a superb March Madness campaign. However, his answer didn’t clear the air.
Per Sports Illustrated’s Hunter De Silver:
“Really I don’t know what I’m going to do right now,” Philon said. “I don’t know if I’ll enter the draft or come back. I’ve got to talk to the coaches and the program first. I have to put that all together. Before I make a decision, it’s going to be me having a conversation with everyone around the program and seeing what’s best for me.
“Coach [Nate Oats] did a great job of having me laser-focused the whole year and just not thinking about the outside noise. I’m pretty sure we’ll get to that later on.”
Philon had a terrific season with the Crimson Tide, averaging 10.4 points, 3.3 rebounds, 3.8 assists, and 1.3 steals as a 19-year-old true freshman. These numbers are enough to have Philon on many draft boards.
However, his answer gives Oats and the coaching staff a chance to convince him to run it back for at least one more year before declaring for the draft.
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