Alabama guard Houston Mallette reveals mindset following medical redshirt season

When Houston Mallette showed up in Tuscaloosa, the plan was for him to spend one season at Alabama. A transfer from Pepperdine, one season of eligibility remained. And while he did get some playing time under Nate Oats, a medical redshirt season was taken, meaning he could return for the 2025-2026 campaign.

Not the easiest way to spend a year, Mallette was asked about the challenges of watching from the sidelines. He revealed his mindset, saying a ton of learning took place for him. Some love for the game of basketball came back as well, firing him for what’s to come in Tuscaloosa.

“I think as people, we have something made up in our mind,” Mallette said. “‘Okay, this is going to be my plan. This is what I think, the year, is going to happen.’ When it doesn’t happen, you have a choice. You can either feel sorry for yourself because you’re hurt or you can learn from it.

“Coming from Pepperdine, which was a mid-major school, to come to a program just came off a Final Four is a blessing. The amount of stuff I’ve learned in the past year — I’ve never learned this much about basketball ever in my life. I love it, I’ve fallen in love even more with basketball more than I ever thought I could.”

Mallette went on to name guys who helped play a role in expanding his knowledge of the game. Most of them are the veteran players on last season’s squad, including Mark Sears and Chris Youngblood. Even somebody like Aaron Estrada, who was never a teammate of Mallette, got a shoutout for his role.

Getting back to full health is obviously a priority for Mallette. A close second is making sure all the lessons learned apply to what will be his lone full season with Alabama.

In six games played, Mallette averaged 3.2 points and 2.2 rebounds per game. Oats has spoken on how good of a shooting team this could be and Mallette plays a big role. Five of his 10 attempts from deep went in last year, all of which came during the nonconference portion of the schedule.

A lot better sample size came during Mallette’s time at Pepperdine. His career three-point shooting percentage is 37.5%. No one season better than 2023-2024, making 41.5% from behind the arc while averaging over five attempts per game. Hopefully, big things are coming from Mallette.