Alabama basketball guard Houston Mallette is officially cleared to return to the Crimson Tide for the 2025-26 season.

Mallette, who transferred to Tuscaloosa from Pepperdine following the 2023-24 season, needed the NCAA’s approval on a medical redshirt and received the go-ahead on Wednesday, according to Yea Alabama, the Crimson Tide’s official NIL entity.

Mallette appeared in six games last season. The bulk of his playing time came in Alabama‘s 97-90 win over North Dakota on Dec. 18. He scored 19 points and averaged 7.8 minutes per game in 2024-25.

The 6-foot-5, 200-pound guard from Alameda, California dealt with knee injuries and was shut down for the season. In his last game, he played nine minutes in the Tide’s 94-79 win over North Carolina in Chapel Hill on Dec. 4. Mallette averaged 3.2 points and 2.2 rebounds per game on 5-of-10 shooting from beyond the arc.

Mallette came to Alabama as one of the top scorers in the West Coast Conference. In 2023-24, he averaged 14.7 points — good for fifth in the conference — on 43 percent shooting in 31.5 minutes per game for Pepperdine.

Alabama coach Nate Oats said of Mallette last November:

“Houston came to us with some knee issues, and he didn’t practice all summer. He’s an unbelievable kid. I’m super happy he’s in our program. We talk about high-character kids and he’s at the top of that list, but we want to do what’s right by him and give him a full offseason in our program.”

The Crimson Tide went 28-9 overall last season and 13-5 in SEC play, earning a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament. The Crimson Tide advanced to the Sweet 16 for the fourth consecutive season and fell to East Region champion Duke, 85-65, in the Elite Eight.

This article originally appeared on Roll Tide Wire: Houston Mallette cleared by NCAA to return to Alabama for 2025-26