BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — Brandon Miller sat in a folding chair in a corner of the locker room struggling with an assemblage of reporters and movie cameras.
Alabama’s freshman All-American fielded few inquiries about his worst game in crimson and white, not with all the off-the-court docket matters that have shadowed him and a crew mounting a bid for the program’s initially nationwide championship.
Amid myriad interruptions, the NCAA Tournament’s leading total seed dispatched 16th-seeded Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 96-75 on Thursday in the opening spherical even with its very best participant heading scoreless for the first time.
Miller, who politely but succinctly responded to issues about nearly anything not related to the sport, has been accompanied by a stability guard supplied by the university right after struggling with threats because his presence at the scene of a fatal capturing was disclosed in court testimony.
“It does not hassle me,” Miller stated of the threats, which he forwards to university officers. “I ship it to the right people and they tackle it.”
Miller came into the activity averaging approximately 20 points.
The story is perfectly acknowledged by a lot of faculty basketball followers by now. Miller and fellow freshman Jaden Bradley have been on the scene in the early-morning several hours of Jan. 15 when a 23-calendar year-aged female, Jamea Harris, was shot and killed. The players’ then-teammate Darius Miles was billed with cash murder alongside with one more guy.
In accordance to police testimony, Miller experienced introduced Miles’s gun to the scene. Miller’s lawyer mentioned the Tide forward was on his way to choose Miles up when Miles texted inquiring him to convey the weapon. The lawyer, Jim Standridge, stated Miller never dealt with the gun and did not know any legal activity was intended.
Miller, mentor Nate Oats and the Alabama system have faced a steady barrage of thoughts due to the fact then.
The night right before Thursday’s game, a report published by The New York Situations, citing an unknown individual, explained a fourth player — freshman walk-on Kai Spears, who has not performed this period — was also at the scene of the capturing. The university, Spears and his relatives have named the report inaccurate and the loved ones has employed an lawyer.
Story carries on
A New York Occasions spokeswoman explained to The Linked Push the newspaper stands by its reporting. Police in Tuscaloosa did not return an e mail sent Thursday by The AP trying to find comment on the report.
Miller and Bradley have not missed any taking part in time, a determination that has brought loads of scrutiny on Oats and the Crimson Tide.
Oats disclosed Wednesday that Miller had acquired threatening messages.
“If you guys observed some of what I have observed despatched his way, I imagine you would comprehend why that is the situation,” Oats stated, referring to the safety guard presented to Miller. “I do not want to get into all that. The complete scenario, as you know, is just a heartbreaking scenario on all accounts.”
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