USA TODAY Sports names Alabama basketball one of biggest winners from NBA draft deadline

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Alabama basketball received an unexpected boost late Wednesday when guard Labaron Philon announced in a surprise move that he was withdrawing from the 2025 NBA draft and returning to Tuscaloosa for his sophomore season with the Crimson Tide and coach Nate Oats.

Fittingly, Yea Alabama, the Crimson Tide's NIL entity, made the announcement regarding Philon in a post to social media. NIL is the biggest and most obvious factor for why so many marginal draft picks have delayed the NBA for another year, and 2025 was no exception.

An elite 6-foot-4 guard, Philon averaged 10.6 points per game in 24.7 minutes last season. He started 29 of 37 games and had recently been a projected second-round NBA pick. Philon had ruled out a return to Alabama on May 14 but changed course with Wednesday being the deadline for players to withdraw from the draft.

Good thing for Alabama, who can certainly use him after losing top scorers Mark Sears (18.6 PPG) and Grant Nelson (11.5), as well as big man Cliff Omoruyi and Chris Youngblood to graduation.

On Thursday, veteran USA TODAY Sports columnist Paul Myerberg named the biggest winners and losers from the NBA draft deadline. Not surprisingly, Alabama was included on the list of winners -- along with, well, pretty much the entire SEC.

Myerberg said:

"The biggest winner of the declaration deadline has to be the SEC. After a record-setting year that established the SEC as the strongest conference in the country, the league could be even better this season with a deep collection of players opting out of the draft."

The bad news for Alabama and the rest of the SEC? The defending national champion Florida Gators are bringing back star big man Alex Condon and other NCAA Tournament stars after he also passed on the draft and returned to college.

"Condon had an uneven NCAA tournament but came up huge in the championship game against Houston, illustrating his potential along with the need to hone his game before taking the next step into the NBA. Junior center Rueben Chinyelu also backed out of the draft, while forward Thomas Haugh decided not to enter the process and will see an increase in minutes with three key seniors, led by Walter Clayton Jr., gone from last year’s team. The Gators also added one of the biggest transfers of the spring in former Arkansas guard Boogie Fland - another player that considered turning pro before staying in school."

Alabama and Florida weren't the only SEC teams to benefit from draft withdrawals. Auburn guard Tahaad Pettiford announced his decision to return to the Tigers on Wednesday.

After getting a record 14 of its 16 teams in the NCAA Tournament this past March, the SEC is going to be another week-to-week gauntlet in 2025-26.

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This article originally appeared on Roll Tide Wire: Alabama one of biggest winners from 2025 NBA draft deadline chaos

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