Nate Oats: 'I sincerely apologize' for initial comments on Brandon Miller situation

After Wednesday’s game between Alabama and South Carolina, Nate Oats addressed his comments regarding police testimony linking Brandon Miller to last month’s shooting involving Darius Miles. He issued an apology and acknowledged his word choice.

Oats met with reporters immediately after practice Tuesday, just as news was breaking about a detective’s testimony that alleged Miles texted Miller to bring the gun to the scene of the shooting. During his answer, Oats said Miller was in the “wrong spot [at the] wrong time,” and he later issued a statement clarifying what he said.

Wednesday, he apologized for speaking without knowing all the details of the testimony.

Alabama coach Nate Oats starts his press conference by apologizing for "response to the Brandon Miller question" in Tuesday's press conference. pic.twitter.com/oZlpX8KOR2

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) February 23, 2023

“Before we get into the game, I just want to address yesterday’s press conference and my response to the Brandon Miller question,” Oats said. “I’m not here to make excuses. I want to make it clear I didn’t have the details from the hearing that morning since I was coming straight from practice. I used a poor choice of words making it appear like I wasn’t taking this tragic situation seriously, which we have throughout the course of it. I sincerely apologize for that. I know Greg [Byrne] shared some information earlier today on the situation. I don’t really have anything more to add other than what he shared.”

Oats’ apology came after a career performance from Miller. He dropped 41 points — including the basket to send the game to overtime and the game-winning layup with 0.9 seconds left — to propel Alabama past South Carolina. It was a huge performance for Miller in the hostile environment in Columbia which saw a chorus of boos toward him and the student section chant “Lock him up” as he shot two free throws.

Alabama AD Greg Byrne comments on Nate Oats initial statement on Brandon Miller

Oats’ apology was similar to what Alabama athletic director Greg Byrne said about his remarks. Byrne said Oats didn’t know anything about the hearing and the two spoke about it afterward.

“He knew the hearing was going on, he had not been briefed on what had been said at the hearing when he walked into [the press conference]. … Tuesday was his normal media gathering,” Byrne said. “He had not been updated on his way into the press conference. He obviously didn’t help himself. We talked, he’s remorseful for that and we’ve dealt with that.

“I’ve been pleased up until that point with Nate’s empathy in trying to navigate through this very challenging situation. He didn’t do a very good job of it yesterday, but I also know that he wasn’t trying to be disrespectful — his comments just didn’t come across the way the should have.”

Byrne also reiterated Miles was texting Miller to pick him up and he got the text as he was on his way. Miller’s attorney released a statement Wednesday saying he didn’t know there was a gun in the car, and Byrne said he learned that over the last 24 hours, as well.

“He had received text messages from Darius over the course of an hour to ask him to come pick him up,” Byrne said. “The text message that was released yesterday was sent when Brandon was on his way to pick him up and was already almost there.”