Alabama guard Houston Mallette to miss game against Texas A&M, Oats considering medical redshirt

Alabama guard Houston Mallette will miss the 5th-ranked Crimson Tide’s game against No. 10 Texas A&M tomorrow night, head coach Nate Oats announced during his Friday press conference.

Mallette has been dealing with flare-ups in his knees that have given him troubles throughout his college career, including over the summer in his first offseason in Tuscaloosa.

“I love Houston. I think he’s gonna be really good, but his knees have been bothering him still,” Oats said. “That’s the issue with him. They got him well enough to play the games they needed him to at Pepperdine, but he didn’t practice the entire summer. A lot of the fall he was out because he’s had these recurring knee issues. He’s still not 100 percent.”

Originally, the plan was to redshirt Mallette this season and allow him to have a fully healthy offseason, waiting to use his final year of eligibility in the 2025-26 season. Following the season-ending Achilles injury to starting guard Latrell Wrightsell, Mallette came off his redshirt and has appeared in six games this season.

The past few games Mallette’s minutes have dwindled, going from playing around 10 minutes in his first few games off the redshirt to playing just five combined minutes in the last two outings.

Oats said that if Mallette’s knee issues persist, the program could pursue a medical redshirt for him.

“If his knees don’t get better, and that’s something we’ve got to evaluate,” Oats said. “We’ve got to make a decision, can we get them better to the point where he’s good enough to play the minutes he deserves, because this is his last year in college. Or, are his knees not gonna be good enough and it’d be smart enough, I think the last game is the last one he could play in the amount of minutes, and still get the medical redshirt with the knee deal that he’s been having. We’ve got to make a decision. He’s gonna be out for this game, then based on how rehab goes these next couple weeks we’ve got to make a decision on that.”

When Mallette has played, he’s been a valuable player for this Crimson Tide team. He’s made 50 percent of his 3-point attempts this season and played with as much hustle as anyone on the roster. He’s currently averaging 3.2 points and 2.2 rebounds on the season.

“When he’s played, his effort is unbelievable,” Oats said. “That’s the issue too with him, he’s got bad knees but he’s flying around like he’s 13 years old and has no mileage on his knees. He’s got no off switch as he likes to say, which is great. He gets O boards, he sprints the floor, he’s been able to shoot it well. If we can get his knees right he’s gonna be a really good player in this program. He shoots it well from three, plays ridiculously hard, and all he cares about is winning. I love him, he’s just been having knee issues and they’re continuing to flare up.”

With Mallette out on Saturday night, Alabama will be down to 10 available scholarship players against the Aggies.

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