Alabama Guard Named to 2025 Bob Cousy Award Watch List

Originally posted on Alabama Crimson Tide on SI
By Hunter De Siver | Last updated Oct 27, 2025 1:20 PM ET

Alabama guard Labaron Philon Jr. was named to the 2025 Bob Cousy Award watch list on Monday.

Named after Class of 1971 Hall-of-Famer and former Boston Celtic and Holy Cross guard Bob Cousy, the annual honor now in its 23rd year recognizes the top point guards in Division I men's college basketball. A national committee of top college basketball personnel determined the watch list of 20 candidates.

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. "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."

Philon would get his first test of leadership against Florida State in an exhibition game at Boutwell Auditorium in Birmingham on Oct. 16. The Crimson Tide won the preseason contest 109-105, and Philon had a career-high 28 points on 8 of 12 from the field.

"He was more vocal," Alabama head coach Nate Oats said after the FSU 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."

Philon also scored an impressive 16 points with a team-high five assists during Sunday's dominant 96-71 exhibition win over Furman on the road. He aims to build on this stellar start throughout the regular season, starting with North Dakota on Nov. 3 in Coleman Coliseum.