Nate Oats opens up on health of Brandon Miller

The story of the NCAA Tournament, for a few reasons, has been Alabama‘s Brandon Miller. Between being one of the best players in the country and off-the-field questions pouring in, Miller has been a huge topic of discussion. Another layer has been added over the past week as well, with a groin injury nagging.

Miller was able to go against Maryland and showed why he is brilliant at times. Even so, we did not see a vintage performance from the star, with head coach Nate Oats claiming a slow start hampered Miller. Once the blood was pumping, the freshman got back to his normal self.

“You know what, I didn’t know how many minutes he would be able to play,” Oats said. “It seemed the longer he went the more loose it got, the better he was. I saw him kind of wince early. He didn’t have the same pop. You know, I’m looking at his stats. He ended up 3/11 from 2. And a lot of those are at the rim. I thought his finishing had been really good the whole conference play and everything. He definitely wasn’t 100%.”

As any player would with an injury, Miller believes he is okay. Getting constant treatment certainly helps, as does not playing San Diego State until Friday evening. Even if the groin is not feeling 100%, Oats claims the mindset will be similar to the one against Maryland — Miller is going to be out there on the court, competing to win a national championship.

“He’s going to tell you he’s 100%,” Oats said. “He’s a tough kid that’s going to play through some stuff. And not let people on how much he’s hurt. Him and Clarke spent a lot of time together over the last 48 hours. And give him a lot of credit. He was going to go.

“There was no question ever about whether he was going to go or not. We’ll rest him how we need to rest him until they feel like he’s ready to practice. If we don’t have him for a few practices, that’s fine. We have to get his groin as close to 100% as we can by Friday.”

Miller was held scoreless in the first game against Texas A&M-CC, something he had not done in his previous 33 appearances. He came back two days later and responded with 19 points and had a great moment with a block and three-pointer to lead Alabama to a win.

He will be hoping for similar moments beginning in the Sweet Sixteen.