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Alabama basketball star Aden Holloway was arrested on marijuana charges days before the Crimson Tide’s NCAA Tournament opener.
His case has since been assigned to a judge with ties to the university.
Holloway was arrested on Monday morning after police found a ridiculous amount of weed in his apartment. The timing wasn’t great.
The Crimson Tide are set to start their postseason on Friday as a No. 4 seed in the Midwest Region. The team will likely be forced to do so without Holloway in the lineup.
The guard is one of the team’s top contributors. Holloway averaged 16.8 points per game this season. He also ranks second on the roster with 3.8 assists per night.
Details of the arrest have been made public over the last 24 hours.
“Drug agents serving a search warrant found loose marijuana, a vacuum sealed bag with marijuana, a rolling tray and packing material.”
A reported 964 grams of marijuana were discovered, just shy of a felony trafficking charge.
Aden Holloway has been charged.
The junior was charged with first-degree possession and failure to affix a tax stamp. Police believe he intended to sell.
Holloway has rejected those claims, saying that the weed was for personal use. He admitted to smoking marijuana. He insists that he did not, however, plan to deal.
That admission does little to impact his current status with the Alabama basketball team. The Crimson Tide are prepared to play without him in March Madness.
Nate Oats on Aden Holloway’s arrest; pic.twitter.com/bjO7Ej2HEN
— Hunter De Siver (@HunterDeSiver) March 16, 2026
“We’ve got standards in our program,” said coach Nate Oats. “We’ve got ways we’ve held our guys accountable. We try to keep everything in-house. Obviously, some of the situations you can’t…
“We had to suspend him pending the investigation by the UA office of student conduct… We’re preparing to play without him this weekend.”
Holloway has been removed from the Tuscaloosa campus. The school released a statement on the investigation earlier this week.
The University is aware of the allegations and is working to gather more information. The student has been removed from campus pending further investigation by the UA Office of Student Conduct.
-University of Alabama
Holloway bonded out for $5,000 on Monday. He is not with the team with the investigation ongoing.
An update in the legal proceedings was made public by Emilee Smarr of Tuscaloosa News on Tuesday. It identified the judge assigned to the hooper’s case.
Tuscaloosa judge has Alabama ties.
Tuscaloosa district court judge Joanne Jannik has been assigned to Alabama guard Aden Holloway’s case.
Jannik received her BS from Southern Mississippi, her Master’s from The University of Alabama, and her JD from Birmingham School of Law.@tuscaloosanews
— Emilee Smarr (@emilee_smarr) March 17, 2026
Joanne Jannik has been assigned to the case. She has a Master’s degree from the University of Alabama.
Judge backgrounds have been put under a microscope of late given the slew of recent court cases impacting college athletes. They’ve sparked conflict of interest concerns. Most of those, however, involve NIL and eligibility issues.
The judge that cleared former Alabama basketball player Charles Bediako to play earlier this season was revealed to be a Crimson Tide donor.
Similar cases involving Ole Miss and the University of Tennessee also created controversy. Aden Holloway’s case is different given the drug charges.
In some instances, it’s impossible to avoid these situations. Local judges often come from local institutions. Not all universities offer law school. You’re bound to see run into these types of scenarios.
As for Aden Holloway, his status for the future remains uncertain. He awaits a court date which has not yet been officially set. It seems unlikely we’ll see him on the court this postseason.