The NBA Summer League is in the books, and eight former Alabama players spent the last two weeks in Las Vegas trying to make their mark.
For some, it was the first real taste of professional basketball. For others, it was a chance to keep building a case in front of NBA front offices after time in the G League. Three of those Crimson Tide alums are just getting started in the pro ranks, while most of the rest came in with more experience behind them.
One Alabama player already had the spotlight on him before the games even tipped off: Labaron Philon Jr. The Philadelphia 76ers took him No. 22 overall in the 2026 NBA Draft, making him the first UA player drafted since 2023.
His selection also gave Nate Oats another pair of milestones to point to - Philon became the seventh player drafted under Oats and the coach’s fifth first-round pick. Philon, a Third Team All-American and All-SEC First Team selection, also became the third player in Alabama history to score 700 points in a single season and the 57th to reach 1,000 career points.
Grant Nelson was also on a Summer League roster, but he never got the chance to play. Brooklyn had him on its list before shutting him down because he is recovering from a procedure on his knee.
Among the other former Tide players, Mark Sears was part of the group, along with Keon Ellis, Jarin Stevenson, Chris Youngblood, Rylan Griffen, and the rest of the Alabama contingent in Las Vegas. The source material identifies Sears, Ellis, Stevenson, Youngblood, and Griffen as part of the former Alabama group competing in Summer League, while noting that three of the Crimson Tide products were entering their first year of professional basketball and most of the others had spent the previous season in the NBA G League.
Chris Youngblood’s path to Summer League came after going undrafted in 2026. Wrightsell, also undrafted, was the only player from Alabama’s 2025-26 team who had also been part of the 2023-24 Final Four squad.
He finished his sixth season of college basketball after three years at Alabama and an earlier stretch at Cal State Fullerton. Nate Oats repeatedly described him as a leader, and Wrightsell’s early exit from last season after an Achilles rupture only added to the sense that he carried a “National Championship mentality.”
Mallette, another undrafted 2026 guard, drew the same kind of praise from Oats. The Alabama coach was quick to light up whenever Mallette came up in a press conference, and that energy matched the way Mallette played.
He was known as a leader, brought nonstop effort on and off the floor, and approached every game like it could be his last. His 2024-25 season at Alabama, his first after three years at Pepperdine, also ended early because of knee injuries.
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