Why Alabama basketball is redshirting Houston Mallette and Naas Cunningham

As demonstrated in its 110-54 win over UNC Asheville on Monday, Alabama basketball has plenty of talent. So much so that some of it won't see the floor for the 2024-25 season.

Before the game, Crimson Tide head coach Nate Oats announced on the game broadcast that Houston Mallette and Naas Cunningham will be redshirting the season. Afterward, he said the choice for Mallette was due to a lingering injury.

"Houston came to us with some knee issues and he didn't practice all summer," Oats said of the senior Pepperdine transfer. "He's an unbelievable kid, I'm super happy he's in our program. You talk about high-character kids, he's at the top of that list. But we wanted to do right by him and give him a full offseason in our program. We play so much different than what he played at Pepperdine.

"And he's trying to be a pro, and without having the offseason, I think it put him behind the eight-ball playing this year, so we had a long discussion with him and his father and decided what would be best if is him to really learn the way we want to play, have an entire year-and-a-half with us now, going into his year with us next year. He's gonna make us great in practice, he's gonna make us great on the bench, he'll make us great just being in the program."

Mallette, a 6-foot-5 guard, will have one full season in 2025-26. Cunningham is a 6-foot-7 wing, who joined the Crimson Tide as a freshman this year.

His redshirt was decided upon for development purposes.

"He's gotta get more physical," Oats said of Cunningham. "He's gotta put some weight on. With our depth, I wasn't sure how many minutes he was gonna play some of these games."

Alabama returns to action Friday against Arkansas State at Coleman Coliseum.