Alabama men’s basketball could have another one-and-done prospect on its hands in Labaron Philon.

“I think it’s a big reason why NBA teams are really high on him; He’s such a great defensive guard in addition to being really talented on offense,” Crimson Tide coach Nate Oats said Wednesday.

Philon, a freshman from Mobile, earned a spot on the All-SEC freshman team this season. He’s averaging 10.9 points, 3.3 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.3 steals per game.

“I think his defense has gotten significantly better the last few weeks here,” Oats said. “We kind of challenged him. I thought when we put him in the starting lineup, as a team offensively we’ve gotten better. He needed to pick up his defense up. It had been better earlier in the year. I think he’s got both sides of the ball going right now. We need him to keep going that way. I thought Miles Kelly had been coming out of the gate on a tear in a lot of games. Not just against us, but against other teams. I thought he did a pretty good job on him. He’s one of those guys who can move well. He’s got size. He can guard off guards, wings, running off screen action. He can also guard point guards, pressure the ball and take it from them.”

Philon will be a key piece for the Crimson Tide in the postseason, which starts this week.

No. 5 Alabama will be the No. 3 seed in the SEC Tournament this week in Nashville. The Crimson Tide will face either Georgia, Oklahoma or Kentucky on Friday in the quarterfinals.

Nick Kelly is an Alabama beat writer for AL.com and the Alabama Media Group. Follow him on X and Instagram.