Alabama basketball star arrested on marijuana charge days before March Madness tipoff

Just days before their start in the NCAA Tournament, the Alabama Crimson Tide is dealing with an off-court legal issue with one of its starting players. 

Guard Aden Holloway was arrested on Monday for possession of marijuana, said Stephanie Taylor, a Tuscaloosa Police Department spokesperson, to the New York Post. 

The spokesperson said more than a pound of marijuana, paraphernalia and cash were found after agents with the West Alabama Narcotics Task Force conducted a search of a residence on Monday morning. 

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Holloway, 21, was arrested and charged with first-degree possession of marijuana and failure to affix a tax stamp. He was transported to Tuscaloosa County jail on Monday at 9:48 a.m. and later released at 10:45 a.m. His bond was $5,000. 

It is currently unclear if the Crimson Tide will be disciplining Holloway before they take on Hofstra in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday in Tampa, Florida. 

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The Crimson Tide went 23-9 this season, earning them a No. 4 seed in the Midwest Region, where they hope to get off on the right foot against the No. 13 Pride, which went 24-10 this year, at Benchmark International Arena. 

Holloway was a key piece of Alabama’s success this season, averaging 16.8 points per game as the team’s second-leading scorer. His last game, an SEC Tournament quarterfinals loss to Ole Miss last Friday, saw him drop 18 points in the 80-79 defeat. 

The Crimson Tide come into the tournament as one of the more successful squads of late, winning nine of their last 11 games. This is the time of year to get hot, and Holloway has played a part in that recent stretch. 

It’s worth noting that, as of June 2024, the NCAA Division I Council removed marijuana from its banned substances list for championships and postseason football. 

Holloway is in his third season with the Crimson Tide, where he returned to the starting role he had during his freshman year in the 2023-24 campaign. 

Holloway shot 48.1% from the field, as well as 43.8% from three-point territory, while dishing out 3.8 assists and grabbing 2.8 rebounds per game. 

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