Houston Mallette is redshirting and will play for Alabama this season

There was a change of plans for an offseason addition to Alabama basketball. After initially opting to redshirt his first year with the program, Pepperdine transfer Houston Mallette will now see the spot for the Crimson Tide this season.

Mallette reported to No. 10 Alabama’s game against No. 20 North Carolina on Wednesday night, burning his redshirt eligibility. The decision comes after starting player Latrell Wrightsell’s season was cut short last week due to a ruptured Achilles tendon.

Before Wednesday’s game, Alabama head coach Nate Oats discussed the possibility of burning Mallette’s redshirt, stating that the team would only do so if it made sense for the player and the program. As a senior, this will now be Mallette’s final season of eligibility.

“We’re trying to figure out if we have enough minutes to make it worth it,” Oats said. “So that’s definitely on the table, we’ve been having those discussions over the last few days.”

Mallette started 31 games for Pepperdine last season and averaged 14.7 points, 3.2 rebounds and 2.4 assists. He shot 43.1% from the floor and 41.5% from distance.

Alabama’s backfield is likely to receive additional reinforcements in the near future as South Florida transfer Chris Youngblood has been practicing and is close to rejoining the team.

Youngblood has yet to play this season due to an ankle injury. He was named American Athletic Conference Team Player of the Year last season, averaging 15.3 points, 2.5 rebounds and 2.1 assists while scoring 41.6 points from distance.