Nate Oats clarifies comment on Brandon Miller providing gun used in murder

Alabama basketball coach Nate Oats has released a statement clarifying his previous comments on Brandon Miller’s involvement in the capital murder case against former teammate Darius Miles.

After widespread backlash for his comment which referenced a coach’s inability to control activity outside of practice and referred to Miller’s involvement as ‘wrong place, wrong time,’ Oats said the following.

“I thought it was important for me to clarify the unfortunate remarks I made earlier,” the statement read. “This entire time I’ve tried to be thoughtful in my words relative to this tragic incident, and my statements came across poorly.

“We were informed by law enforcement of other student-athletes being in the vicinity, and law enforcement has repeatedly told us that no other student-athletes were suspects—they were witnesses only. Our understanding is that they have all been fully truthful and cooperative.

“In no way did I intend to downplay the seriousness of this situation or the tragedy of that night. My prayers continue to go out to Jamea Harris’s family.”

Testimony from Tuesday’s trial of Darius Miles revealed that Brandon Miller received a text requesting the gun used to kill Jamea Jonae Harris on January 15. His car was also shot twice in the incident.

Previous Nate Oats comments

Nate Oats met with reporters Tuesday morning and said the program knew what happened. He also said Miller has not been in trouble, adding he was in the “wrong spot at the wrong time” the night of the shooting.

“We’ve known the situation since [it happened],” Oats said. “We’ve been fully cooperating with law enforcement the entire time. The whole situation is sad. The team closed practice with a prayer for the situation today, knowing that we had this trial today. We think of Jamea and her family, Kaine. Really think about her son, Kaine, that was left behind. It’s sad.

“We knew about that. Can’t control everything anybody does outside of practice. Nobody knew that was going to happen. College kids are out. Brandon hasn’t been in any type of trouble nor is he in any type of trouble in this case. Wrong spot at the wrong time.”

Miller has seen his name come up in NBA Draft circles as a potential lottery pick, even coming in as the projected No. 4 overall pick in ESPN analyst Jonathan Givony’s latest mock draft earlier this month. Oats acknowledged the NBA implications Miller’s involvement could have.

“I’m sure NBA scouts will ask,” Oats said. “They do their homework. I think the article that it came out in also stated that Brandon has been interviewed and they’re comfortable with everything that happened there.”