I want to preface these thoughts by saying that this is just my opinion, but I believe many folks around college basketball will agree with me.
I think Nate Oats is really not doing himself or Alabama basketball any favors pretty much every time he speaks about the Brandon Miller situation.
The latest example came tonight, after his team’s 86-83 win over Arkansas, when Oats opened his postgame press conference with comments about Miller’s pregame introduction.
As most of you know, it was reported last week that Miller delivered the gun that was eventually used by someone else to kill a young girl named Jamea Harris.
Now, legally speaking, it appears that Miller did not break any laws. However, a young girl did die and the Alabama team, coaches, administration and fans seem to be completely oblivious to what that means.
When the starting lineup was being introduced tonight, Miller got a standing ovation. As he ran out to the court, one of his teammates “patted him down” as if he was searching for a weapon.
I mean really, how tone deaf could these players be to think that was appropriate?
After the game, Oats immediately made it clear that it wasn’t his fault and placed the blame on a walk-on who has “been doing that all season.”
You know what? After a murder happened, it’s probably time to cut out the portion of the pregame ritual where you appear to search for a weapon.
Here’s what Oats had to say about it (first comments in the video):
At one point, I thought Oats would someday be a great replacement for John Calipari when he decides to hang up his whistle.
Now, I wouldn’t want him anywhere around Kentucky, because the Kentucky job is bigger than just basketball and Oats has shown repeatedly in the last week that he doesn’t get it.
