To the casual fan, Houston Mallette may not be a name that many know of, but he has a chance to be a significant part of Alabama’s season.
It was a huge moment over the spring for not just Mallette, but the program in general, when Mallette was granted a medical redshirt season after missing 90% of last season.
Mallette has been dealt a raw deal in the past 365 days. From dealing with chronic knee tendonitis for most of the season, he suffered significant injuries to his face, neck and shoulders in a non-basketball injury in his home.
During the NCAA Tournament last season, when he was dealing with those injuries, Mallette was unfortunately unable to be with the team for the first two rounds.
Alabama head coach Nate Oats wanted to make clear how highly he thought of him in a press conference leading up to the Sweet 16.
“He’s one of the best kids I’ve ever coached in my life. I want him with the program. He wanted to be with us. He just health-wise wasn’t able to make the first two rounds.”
He spent the first three seasons of his college career in Pepperdine where he shot the ball lights out. He averaged 13.8 points per game over his three seasons, shooting 37% from 3-point range – including in 2023-24 where he shot 41% from 3.
As you can imagine, Oats was salivating at the thought of bringing in a sharpshooter like Mallette to his roster.
Oats loves to instill a high-tempo, perimeter type of game, and has told his players that if you see an open 3, take it.
Don’t have to tell Mallette twice.
College basketball analyst from NCAA.com, Andy Katz projected the top 10 breakout candidates for this upcoming season, and he has Mallette listed as number nine, writing:
“Mallette sat out all but six games. He’s back now, and that means he’s ready to bust out after scoring 1,295 points in these three seasons at Pepperdine. Mallette can help take over the scoring load loss from the departure of Mark Sears.”
The departure of Sears is significant. At times Sears can be a bit of a loose cannon in terms of the shots he would take, but he was critical to the program.
Likely, this will be Mallette’s last chance to showcase his skills on the grand stage and to make a push to be an NBA prospect, but the talent is certainly there for a breakout.
After Latrell Wrightsell went down with a ruptured Achilles against UNC, Mallette took the floor and quickly drained two 3s with three rebounds and two steals.
All in nine minutes of action.
If that doesn’t tell you what Mallette can offer to this program, then what will? All he needs is to stay healthy, and Houston will be ready for liftoff.