While Alabama bowed out of the men’s NCAA Bracket after a bitter Sweet 16 loss to Michigan, the true reason behind the court’s decision to grant Aden Holloway out-of-state travel permission has been brought to light. And it will probably not please the Alabama faithful one bit.

Aden Holloway has been out of the team after his substance-related arrest. But the Tuscaloosa court permitted him to travel out of state ahead of Alabama’s Sweet 16 matchup in Chicago, which the Crimson Tide lost to Michigan. However, according to X user Tigers Enthusiast, Holloway’s permission pertains to Texas, not Chicago.

The handle revealed that Aden Holloway is currently in Fort Worth, Texas, to support his sister, Mila Holloway. Mila is a sophomore guard for Michigan and played 29 minutes as the Wolverines overcame the Louisville Cardinals to move on to the Elite Eight in the women’s NCAA Bracket.

While Alabama scored 90 points in each of its first two NCAA Tournament games, Holloway’s absence affected the Crimson Tide against Michigan, with the Wolverines restricting Nate Oats and his men to just 77 points.

Holloway’s support for Michigan is interesting, given that it was Michigan that ousted the Alabama men’s basketball team in the Sweet 16 matchup, a game he missed because of his off-court actions.

Mila Holloway also commented on Aden’s arrest and highlighted the respect she has for her brother’s basketball skills.

“I try to play how I know he’d play,” Mila said. “I try to carry myself how I know he would want me to.”

While Nate Oats continues to be linked to the UNC head coaching vacancy, the 51-year-old has publicly stated he wants to stay at Alabama. And while he has shown faith in Holloway in front of the media, Oats would not forget that his Alabama team had to play the entire NCAA Tournament without one of its key scoring figures.

The 51-year-old could dive into the transfer portal and replace Aden Holloway, who could find himself a possible new home at Michigan, especially with his sister a key member of the Wolverines’ women’s basketball team.

Key decisions await Nate Oats in the offseason as the 51-year-old sets his sights on improving upon his successive Sweet 16 appearances with Alabama.

Nate Oats points to obvious offseason focus for Alabama after Sweet 16 defeat

While Alabama did well in the NCAA Tournament despite a lot of key absences from their roster, especially following Aden Holloway’s drug arrest, head coach Nate Oats is aware of the one key factor behind the Crimson Tide’s 13-point loss to one-seed Michigan in the Sweet 16 matchup.

Alabama’s struggles from the field make sense, especially against an elite Michigan team. However, the Wolverines outrebounded the Crimson Tide 46 to 32, and this stat pointed to one key factor behind the success of all major teams this year – possessing elite big men.

Michigan had Aday Mara, Yaxel Lendeborg, and Morez Johnson Jr. on the floor, while Alabama sorely missed Charles Bediako, a player they recruited citing NIL rules but ended up being ineligible after the court upheld the NCAA’s refusal to grant the NBA G-League star eligibility.

Oats touched upon the same after the loss and stated, “We know we’ve got to change a little bit… We know we’ve got to get bigger… We tried to kind of shore up the Bristow-Collins adversity, injuries, with Charles (Bediako), and we would not have gotten outrebounded by 13 tonight had we been able to continue to play him, because he and Sherrell would have played together.”

Aiden Sherrell played 31 minutes against Michigan, but only managed 4 rebounds on the night, when the Crimson Tide could have used Charles Bediako’s presence to compete in the paint.

Going into the new season, Nate Oats could look to dive into the transfer portal to recruit a couple of bigs while also focusing on keeping Sherrell at Alabama. The sophomore forward played 23.9 minutes per game over 34 games this year for Alabama and could be heavily pursued if he enters the transfer portal.

Five-star Jaxon Richardson leads a trio of forwards already committed to Alabama for next season, and this will help Nate Oats shore up the frontcourt.