Michael RothsteinESPN Staff Writer6:32 PM ET3 Minute Read
Nate Oats discusses Brandon Miller’s pre-game ‘patch’ introduction
Nate Oats says Brandon Miller’s pre-game “pat down” wasn’t appropriate and assures it won’t happen again.
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Alabama men’s basketball coach Nate Oats called freshman forward Brandon Miller’s pregame introduction routine of being knocked down by a walk-on before heading to midcourt “inappropriate” after his team Arkansas 86- 83 had defeated on Saturday.
“I don’t watch our introductions, I don’t participate in them, I design plays during that time,” Oats said in his post-game press conference. “Anyway, it’s not appropriate. It has been addressed and I can assure you it will definitely not happen again for the rest of this year.”
Miller, who has performed the same pre-game introduction for games this season, continued the routine after Tuscaloosa detective Branden Culpepper testified Tuesday that Miller gave him the gun on the night of the fatal shooting of the 23-year-old of his former teammate Darius Miles-old Jamea Jonae Harris after Miles texted him asking him to.
Culpepper’s testimony came during a preliminary hearing for Miles and Michael Lynn Davis, who are charged with murder in the death of Harris. Investigators said Miles, who has since been removed from the Crimson Tide program, admitted providing the gun used in the fatal shooting, but 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 was “nothing we could charge.” [Miller] with.” Both Oats and investigators said Miller was cooperating with the police.
After the Alabama sports information director ordered the media to only ask questions about the Alabama-Arkansas game, Oats responded to the one non-game question he was asked — whether or not he reached out to Harris’ family at any point.
“Listen to address it a bit,” Oats said. “I apologize for my previous comments this week. We understand the gravity of this, but I’m following the lead of the administration on everything here, so we’re going to talk about the game, which is something they’d like to talk to me about.”
Miller posted a team-high 24 points with six rebounds on Saturday and was always applauded for doing something for the Crimson Tide. It’s a contrast to Wednesday night when Miller was taunted on the street in South Carolina.
Later in the Oats’ post-game press conference, he was asked about Miller’s week in a question about the game.
“He’s one of the toughest mentally, if not the toughest, guy I’ve ever trained in my life and I’ve been training for a while,” Oats said. “Even though he fully understands the tragedy of the situation and takes it very seriously and has been cooperating all along, he’s also done a great job of being able to focus on training and games and just getting that laser focus where he dialed in, where his feet are at.”