Alabama star freshman Brandon Miller will be active and in the lineup for Wednesday night’s away game against South Carolina, although new information has tied him to the scene of a January shooting in Tuscaloosa. The incident led to a charge of murdering teammate Darius Miles and another man, Michael Davis, and killed 23-year-old Jamea Harris.
“[Miller] is with our team in South Carolina. He went for a walk today, and I expect he’ll play tonight,” Alabama athletic director Greg Byrne said on ESPN’s College Gameday Podcast on Wednesday afternoon.
AL.com reported from police testimony during the initial hearings that Miller brought the gun to the scene and even received text messages from Miles referencing the gun. The news broke Tuesday, and it appeared to be new information not only for the public, but also for the Alabama government, Byrne revealed on the podcast.
Byrne clearly stated that the athletic department is not trying to “do the work of investigators” and takes a position of full cooperation with the process. That has led to situations like this week, where Tuesday’s revelations from Wednesday’s hearing were also followed by a statement from Miller’s attorney, discussing the fact that Miles wrote to Miller for “almost an hour” and requested a ride home asked, and Miller “was not involved in the collection of the gun.”
“While we are not investigators, we have a duty to assess whether someone has violated university rules, policies or standards. We make this assessment based on facts. We found some new facts yesterday, we found some new facts today,” Byrne said. “Here’s what we know: Brandon Miller wasn’t present at the verbal altercation. Brandon was already on his way to pick up Darius when Darius texted him. Brandon never left his vehicle and was not involved in the collection of the gun. The shooting occurred seconds after Brandon arrived. Brandon is a fully cooperating witness and not a suspect.”
The Crimson Tide #2 meets the Gamecocks on Wednesday night, with the peak scheduled for 9 p.m. ET.