Jay Bilas Says Brandon Miller Has Rights, Defends Alabama On ESPN College GameDay

ESPN college basketball analyst Jay Bilas weighed in on the Brandon Miller situation on this morning's College GameDay, saying - among other things - that the Alabama basketball player has his rights and he doesn't see anything wrong with the way the university has so far handled the situation.

"Brandon Miller has rights, and I believe Alabama has a duty to protect those rights, or at least not compromise those rights," Bilas said. "He has cooperated fully, according to his attorney, with authorities.

"To me, I believe Alabama has gone through this process and handled it appropriately."

Outback's Dan Dakich firmly disagreed with Bilas' take on the Miller situation.

Jay Bilas weighs in on Brandon Miller situation

Miller, the star Alabama forward and likely NBA lottery pick, drove the vehicle carrying the gun allegedly used by former teammate Darius Miles and Michael Lynn Davis to murder single mother Jamea Jonae Harris back in January.

Davis and Miles currently face capital murder charges.

Miller, who police have not charged with anything, has continued to play, and the decision from the athletic program has brought intense scrutiny. Head coach Nate Oats, in particular, has faced bitter backlash from certain corners.

He defended his decision to allow Miller to continue to play this week.

“We’ve been taking it very seriously from Day 1. The first minute that I got the information, I called Greg [Byrne] and we talked about it and the severity of it," he said in a Friday presser, according to ESPN.

"Greg, I thought, did a great job addressing those comments on Wednesday, and I really don’t have much to add to it. We feel like we’ve done the right thing in this case. So I’m going to leave it at that with Greg’s comments."

While those comments came Friday, Oats made headlines earlier in the week he said Miller was simply in the wrong spot at the wrong time.

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

Miller scored 41 points in Alabama's last game on Wednesday - a 78-76 win over South Carolina - and is expected to be in the lineup for today's showdown with Arkansas.