Matt Norlander provides update on Brandon Miller’s status for Wednesday vs. South Carolina

One day before Alabama was supposed to take on South Carolina, news broke about police testimony saying Crimson Tide star Brandon Miller received a text from Darius Miles asking him to bring the gun used in last month’s shooting. That led to questions about Miller’s status for the game — and CBS Sports’ Matt Norlander provided some clarity Wednesday morning.

Norlander and Gary Parrish addressed the ongoing controversy on the “Eye on College Basketball” podcast and he said his initial impression was that Miller will play in the game as of recording. Miller is a projected lottery pick in this year’s NBA Draft amid a breakout freshman season, averaging 18.7 points and 8.0 rebounds in 27 games.

Norlander acknowledged the pending legal decisions and said he’s not going to suggest Miller broke a law. That said, he pointed to the caliber opponent Alabama is facing Wednesday to explain why it might make sense to sit Miller in light of the developments.

“There’s been a lot of this, ‘What did you expect to happen? It’s Alabama. He’s a first-round pick, he’s a top-10 pick, he’s a top-five pick, he’s the National Freshman of the Year frontrunner,'” Norlander said. “I expect someone charged with leading a program like Nate Oats to take proper disciplinary action. I’m not a lawyer, I’m not an expert in law in the state of Alabama, I’m not here to talk about whether or not Brandon Miller should have been charged in this. I can’t speak to that with an expert legal mind, not going to pretend to. Not going there.

“What I do know is … frankly, I’ve heard from many, many coaches — assistants and head coaches, head coaches at the power conference level — in the past however many hours this has been since this broke that the question everyone’s asking is, ‘How did Brandon Miller and Jaden Bradley not serve a suspension? Is he actually going to play tonight?’ I haven’t talked to Nate Oats, but I was told by a source that as of this hour, the expectation is that Brandon Miller will be available for Alabama’s game on Wednesday night.

“Oats followed up with a statement after a bad choice of words. They’re at South Carolina. It’s as non-descriptive of a conference game in the SEC as Alabama could possibly have this season. Frankly, you’ve taken a lot of Ls here. Why not just take the easy win and just not play him? That’s a discussion for another time. Maybe that changes by the end of the evening, maybe it doesn’t. I don’t know.”

More on Brandon Miller’s alleged involvement in the Darius Miles situation

Police testimony revealed Miller’s alleged involvement in the shooting, which killed Jamea Jonae Harris in the early morning hours Jan. 15. According to police, Miles texted Miller to bring the gun and Miller’s car ended up getting hit twice by gunfire during the incident. Earlier court records said Miles provided the gun and Michael Davis pulled the trigger.

Later Wednesday, Miller’s attorney, Jim Standridge, released a statement clarifying his involvement in the situation. He said Miller never touched the gun owned by Miles, which was eventually used to kill Jamea Harris.

“Mr. Miles texted Brandon and asked him to bring his firearm,” a portion of the statement read. “Brandon subsequently arrived at the scene to pick up Mr. Miles. Brandon never got out of his vehicle or interacted with anyone in Ms. Harris’ party. He was never involved in a verbal altercation with Cedric Johnson or Mr. Davis.

“Brandon never touched the gun, was not involved with an exchange to Mr. Davis in any way, and never knew that illegal activity involving the gun would occur.”

On3’s Griffin McVeigh contributed to this report.