The Alabama Crimson Tide were dealt a major blow heading into the NCAA Tournament following the arrest of junior guard Aden Holloway. Holloway is away from the team pending the arrest and the ongoing investigation. Alabama was set to tip-off the NCAA Tournament in the round of 64 against Hofstra without Holloway, and head coach Nate Oats affirmed his support for his star guard, as per The Next Round.
“I’ve met with him in person, talked to him on the phone multiple times,” Oats said during a March Madness press conference. “I’m an adult, I’ve made mistakes. We all have things we’d like to do differently. Now is not the time to ignore a kid you’ve built a real relationship with. Now is the time he needs more love from the adults in his life.”
Oats also went on to highlight the reasons why he got into coaching and why that’s relevant to dealing with the current situation with Holloway.
“When I got into coaching, way back when I got out of college. . .you better be doing it for the right reasons. . .I got to remind myself I’m a high school coach that’s caught some breaks up here. I don’t want to lose why I got into this thing in the first place,” Oats said. “I got into it to help impact young mens’ lives. You don’t disappear when they make a mistake. Not so sure that’s a genuine relationship you’ve built.
“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. I talked to him yesterday morning on the phone, and the night before that. I’ve talked to him every day. I’m going to continue to talk to him, love him, help him through this and we’ll see where it all takes him.”
This season, Holloway has averaged a career-high 16.8 points, 2.8 rebounds and 3.8 assists with splits of 48.1 percent shooting from the field, 43.8 percent shooting from the 3-point line and 86.4 percent shooting from the free-throw line.
