Michael RothsteinESPN Staff Writer2:23 PM ET3 Minute Read
TUSCALOOSA, Alabama — Alabama men’s basketball coach Nate Oats claims that he believes the university and its program did the right thing in allowing Brandon Miller, the new freshman year forward, to continue to play play after his name emerged in connection with a shooting in January.
“We took it very seriously from day one. In the first minute I received the information, I called [AD] Greg [Byrne] and we talked about that and about the severity,” Oats said in a news conference. “Greg I thought did a great job addressing these comments on Wednesday and I really don’t have much to add.
“We feel we did the right thing in this case. So I’ll stick with Greg’s comments.”
Miller’s name was mentioned Tuesday in testimony by detective Branden Culpepper, who drove the vehicle carrying the gun used in the shooting to his then-teammate Darius Miles, who asked Miller to bring the gun to him.
Miles, who has since been removed from the Crimson Tide program, and Michael Lynn Davis are facing charges in the death of 23-year-old Jamea Jonae Harris, who was shot near campus in the early hours of January 15 facing aggravated murder. Miles admitted providing the gun used in the shooting, according to investigators, but said Davis fired the gun.
Miller has not been charged with a crime, and Tuscaloosa Assistant District Attorney Paula Whitley told AL.com on Tuesday that “there is nothing we can charge.” [Miller] with.”
Byrne told ESPN in an interview on Wednesday’s College GameDay podcast that some of the “new information” that surfaced — like the text message from Miles urging Miller to take the gun to the crime scene — affected the school’s decision influenced Miller to play against South Carolina on Wednesday.
Miller scored a career-high 41 points in the 78-76 overtime win over the Gamecocks. It was the most points by a freshman in a Division I game that season and most by a freshman from Alabama in program history.
Alabama coach Nate Oats, right, believes the school has handled star freshman Brandon Miller correctly since he was named as the driver of the gun to a shooting in January, adding, “We’ve had it a lot since day one taken seriously.” Marvin Gentry/USA Sport today
Jim Standridge, one of Miller’s attorneys, released a statement Wednesday saying Miller never saw Miles’ gun and that it was hidden “under some clothing in the back seat” of Miller’s car. Standridge added that Miller never touched the gun or was involved in its exchange with Davis, the alleged gunman.
Miller, whose windshield was hit by gunfire, left the scene as the shooting began.
Oats said he believes his players understand the seriousness of the matter and that he believes his team’s headspace will be “pretty good” going into Saturday’s home game against Arkansas.
When asked Friday if there had been any changes in the way he was supervised over his players after the shooting, Oats said he had spoken to them several times about the incident.
“Life is fluid. Different circumstances bring different areas to talk about. There are different areas you need to educate your players,” Oats said. “The world is changing. As we have encountered various situations, it is difficult to predict everything that everyone will face. We have taken the opportunity as a basketball program, as an athletic department and as a university as a whole to address situations that have arisen and take this opportunity to educate our boys on various things like this.
“So the answer is yes, we’re taking this as an opportunity to educate our players on things that will hopefully help them for the rest of their lives.”
Information provided by ESPN’s Jeff Borzello was used in this report.