Labaron Philon Shares Chances of Returning to Alabama Amid NBA Draft Process

“Ever since I was little in Mobile, my dream has always been to play in the NBA, and I am excited to pursue that goal by officially declaring for the 2025 NBA Draft. I cannot wait to start the next chapter of my life!”

This was the message that former Alabama men's basketball guard Labaron Philon wrote on April 14, as he revealed to the world that he's ready to start preparing for the next stage.

Philon just wrapped up his freshman season with the Crimson Tide a couple of weeks before the announcement. The Mobile, Alabama native finished his first year of college basketball averaging 10.4 points, 3.3 rebounds, 3.8 assists and a Crimson Tide-best 1.3 steals per game.

Philon is on a short list of Alabama freshmen to declare for the draft, but is that decision absolutely final as he can withdraw from the 2025 draft class until May 28?

“I would say 100 percent draft, but you know, things can change,” Philon told The SchuZ Show on Tuesday. “You never know. But I would say I love ‘Bama. The whole program, the school, the state. It was all love when I was playing there. I never received any hatred or nothing like that. Walking around school and just being a regular kid again was mostly the most fun part for me. I’ll never take that for granted.

"But I’m all in on the draft right now because I feel like I want to be a pro. You never know what can happen. We’ll just have to wait and see.”

Philon said he "kinda" has eligibility to return to Alabama, but restated that he's "100 percent on the draft." After he made his draft declaration in April, the message didn't include if he would maintain college eligibility.

NIL is a big reason for college athletes returning to their respective sport for another instead of declaring for the next stage. Philon said that won't be a factor should he return.

"I would say, it's not about the NIL or the money, just for me," he said. "It's just about do you want to go back and play for that school or do you want to chase your dream and play with the big guys?

"But if I'm looking at it from someone else's shoes, I would say, yeah, say if they fall [in the draft] somewhere where they think they're not going to succeed or you get injured while going through the process or you don't like the feedback you get and you want to go back, now that's a thing where you have to discuss with the people around you and the program you want to choose.

"But, yeah, that's definitely like a conversation you would have to sit down and go over before you just hop in it."

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