Alabama Finally Gets Smart - Pregame Introduction From Brandon Miller Is Refreshingly Nothing

The most watched pre-game introduction in the history of Alabama's Coleman Coliseum on Wednesday night was ... nothing.

As more cameras than usual surrounded him, Alabama star freshman Brandon Miller ran out and only did a simple shoulder bump with teammate Adam Cottrell minutes before the No. 2 Crimson Tide hosted Auburn in a college basketball game.

It was much different last Saturday when Cottrell frisked Miller for weapons as he has done all season for Miller, who is a great "shooter." Get it?

Only problem on Saturday? On the previous Tuesday, Miller had been linked to the murder on the Alabama Strip of Jamea Jonae Harris on Jan. 15 because he drove the gun to the scene, according to police.

MURDER ON THE STRIP: WHAT WOULD YOU HAVE DONE?

The gun belonged to then-Alabama basketball player Darius Miles, who took the gun from Miller's car and gave it to Michael Lynn Davis, according to police testimony in a preliminary hearing on Feb. 21. Miller had previously not been linked to the case. Davis then allegedly shot and killed Harris. Both Miles and Davis await trial in jail in Tuscaloosa on capital murder charges. Miller has not been charged as an accessory to the crime. Alabama has not suspended Miller, though he put himself in a dangerous situation.

Alabama coach Nate Oats Says Again He Goofed

“They explained to me that it’s like when TSA checks you when you get on a plane. 'And now Brandon's cleared for takeoff,'" Alabama coach Nate Oats said at a press conference on Tuesday about the pre-game introduction. "We as the adults in the room should have been more sensitive to how it could have been interpreted."

Oats has repeatedly said it was a mistake not to change Miller's pre-game introduction before the Saturday game.

"I dropped the ball," he said Tuesday. "That’s it, I dropped the ball on it. That situation’s on me. We addressed it as a team. As soon as I brought it up to them, they immediately understood how it could be interpreted, and we all felt awful about it. I can assure you, it won't happen again."

And it did not "happen again" on Wednesday.

ALABAMA ENGAGES IN INSTITUTIONAL SPIN

Alabama (25-4, 15-1 SEC) can clinch sole possession of the SEC regular season title with a win over Auburn (19-10, 9-7 SEC). The Tide closes the regular season at Texas A&M (22-8, 14-3 SEC) on Saturday. The Aggies still have a chance to tie Alabama for the title.

Written by
Guilbeau joined OutKick as an SEC columnist in September of 2021 after covering LSU and the Saints for 17 years at USA TODAY Louisiana. He has been a national columnist/feature writer since the summer of 2022, covering college football, basketball and baseball with some NFL, NBA, MLB, TV and Movies and general assignment, including hot dog taste tests. A New Orleans native and Mizzou graduate, he has consistently won Associated Press Sports Editors (APSE) and Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) awards since covering Alabama and Auburn at the Mobile Press-Register (1993-98) and LSU and the Saints at the Baton Rouge Advocate (1998-2004). In 2021, Guilbeau won an FWAA 1st for a game feature, placed in APSE Beat Writing, Breaking News and Explanatory, and won Beat Writer of the Year from the Louisiana Sports Writers Association (LSWA). He won an FWAA columnist 1st in 2017 and was FWAA's top overall winner in 2016 with 1st in game story, 2nd in columns, and features honorable mention. Guilbeau completed a book in 2022 about LSU's five-time national champion coach - "Everything Matters In Baseball: The Skip Bertman Story" - that is available at www.acadianhouse.com, Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble outlets. He lives in Baton Rouge with his wife, the former Michelle Millhollon of Thibodaux who previously covered politics for the Baton Rouge Advocate and is a communications director.