Alabama star Aden Holloway arrested before NCAA Tournament

Alabama starter Aden Holloway was arrested Monday on drug possession charges, a spokesperson for the Tuscaloosa police department told 247Sports. The West Alabama Narcotics Task Force searched Holloway’s residence and reportedly discovered more than a pound of marijuana, paraphernalia and cash.

Holloway has been charged with first-degree possession of marijuana and failure to affix a tax stamp. He was transported to the Tuscaloosa County jail on Monday morning with a bond set at $5,000. The junior guard is the Crimson Tide’s second-leading scorer this season at 16.8 points per game and is shooting at a 48.1% clip.

A former Auburn transfer, Holloway has spent the last two seasons at Alabama, but this is his first as an every-game starter for Oats’ team. He’s averaging career-highs across several statistical categories, including a 43.8% success rate from beyond the arc. When Alabama is playing at its best offensively, the combination of Labaron Philon Jr. and Holloway in the backcourt is one of college basketball’s most lethal combinations.

Alabama hasn’t yet commented on Holloway’s arrest or any disciplinary action that will be taken ahead of this week’s NCAA Tournament opener. Fourth-seeded Alabama (23-9) plays Hofstra in Friday’s first round of March Madness. 

Alabama coach Nate Oats is not a fan of the Crimson Tide’s placement in the Midwest Region of the bracket.

“Hofstra’s good. I can’t say I love the draw,” Oats said Sunday. “It’s not easy to do what we’ve done. Having said that, I didn’t plan on being a four seed this year. Our players didn’t plan on it.”

The Crimson Tide is coming off an 80-79 loss to Ole Miss in the SEC Tournament quarterfinals last week.

“I would say they were doing a good job switching out, putting length on our guards, making it tough to make kick-out reads, make tough rim finishes,” Holloway said after scoring 18 points against the Rebels. “I just give a lot of credit to them for how they came out on the defensive end, especially to start the game.”