The Alabama Crimson Tide men’s basketball team closed out the 2024-25 season with a 28-9 record and an Elite Eight appearance as a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
In a late-night announcement just before the Wednesday withdrawal deadline, freshman guard Labaron Philon reversed course and withdrew his name from the 2025 NBA draft to return to Tuscaloosa for his sophomore season.
Head coach Nate Oats will now see three of his top five scorers from last season return in Latrell Wrightsell Jr. (11.5 points per game), Aden Holloway (11.4) and Philon (10.6).
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However, following Philon’s decision to return, Alabama is not expected to continue its pursuit of the former USC guard Desmond Claude, according to On3’s Joe Tipton.
Philon, a 6-foot-4 guard originally from Mobile, Alabama, averaged 10.6 points, 3.8 assists and 3.3 rebounds per game while shooting 45.2 percent from the field and 31.5 percent from 3-point range during his freshman campaign.
He also led the team with 1.4 steals per contest and earned SEC All-Freshman Team honors after starring at Link Academy following a 2,334-point high school career with Baker High School and the 2023 Alabama Mr. Basketball award.
Claude, a 6-foot-6 guard from Syracuse, New York, began his college career at Xavier, where he averaged 4.7 points per game as a freshman and then 16.6 points, 4.2 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game as a sophomore, earning Big East Most Improved Player and All-Freshman Team honors, before transferring to USC for the 2024-25 season.
At USC, Claude posted 15.8 points, 4.2 assists and 3.5 rebounds per game, emerging as one of the top guards in the transfer portal.
Claude has drawn interest from programs such as Gonzaga, Texas A&M, Oregon and SMU and was scheduled for an official visit to Alabama next month.
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