Labaron Philon 'More Vocal' in New Leadership Role During Florida State Win

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — "Labaron being a point guard, he really needs to step up and be more vocal. I think he's capable of it. He's super smart."

This was the quote Alabama head coach Nate Oats gave 10 days ago when asked who he hopes steps up as a leader this season. This was directed towards Crimson Tide guard Labaron Philon, who is entering his sophomore season.

Philon shocked the college basketball world on May 28, as he withdrew from the 2025 NBA Draft. It was just a couple of hours before the withdrawal deadline, and he became the Crimson Tide's fifth returning player. A big reason for his withdrawal came down to his abilities as a leader. Being the Crimson Tide's No. 1 option in 2025-26 should help raise his draft stock.

"All of the feedback that I got, it was very important to me, because coming back, I knew it was going to be more of a leadership thing," Philon said at SEC Media Day on Tuesday. "That's what most of the feedback I got in being a leader. "Trying to see if I can run a team at a young age, just being more of a communicator and talking more to teammates. I'm making sure that I'm doing a good job of that and coach Oats really gets on me about that a lot."

Fast forward to Thursday, Philon would get his first test of leadership against Florida State in an exhibition game at Boutwell Auditorium in Birmingham. The Crimson Tide won the preseason contest 109-105, and Philon had a career-high 28 points on 8 of 12 from the field. But how was he as a leader?

"He was more vocal," Oats said after the game. "He's got play suggestions, he's thinking of the game and getting the guys together. I think he's got to do a better job on defense. He's got to do a better job of getting back and getting the defense set.

"But he was definitely talking more than last year, which is good. He needs to take more ownership of the team because he's going to have the ball in his hands quite a bit this year."

Fellow Alabama guard Aden Holloway is one of the aforementioned five returners from last year's Elite Eight team. He's shared the backcourt with Philon quite a bit, and was pleased with his leadership on Thursday night.

"He was staying on the guys and encouraging them," Holloway said. "When Florida State was going on a run, his message was to just keep everybody composed and just let everybody know that we're going to make our own way back."

Philon spoke about his leadership test after the game as well, and looks to continue to develop this crucial basketball trait.

"I think I did good. I will say, if you ask anybody who was here my first season and on the floor, they obviously heard me. You could hear my voice right now kind of going away. If I keep building on that, I've got a chance to be a really great player."