A bombshell was dropped on the college basketball world on Tuesday when it was revealed in court testimony that Alabama star freshman basketball player Brandon Miller was the one who gave the gun to Darius Miles that was used in the alleged murder of Jamea Jonae Harris on January 15.
Miller’s involvement was not previously known by the public, but it was known to Alabama head coach Nate Oats, who tried to paper over the budding controversy by downplaying his star player’s role in the shocking tragedy.
“We knew about that. Can’t control everything everybody does outside of practice. Nobody knew that was going to happen. College kids are out, Brandon hasn’t been in any type of trouble nor is he in any type of trouble in this case. Wrong spot at the wrong time,” Oats told reporters when asked about Miller.
While Oats’ comments were not received well by the college basketball world, some of the specifics were lost in translation along the way.
Carol Robinson, who covered Tuesday’s court hearing involving Miles and Michael “Buzz” Davis for AL.com, appeared on The Paul Finebaum Show later in the day to provide some much-needed context and clarity.
Thanks to @RobinsonCarol for joining the program to provide an update on the preliminary court hearing today in Tuscaloosa. pic.twitter.com/k3DjAukbBj
— Paul Finebaum (@finebaum) February 21, 2023
When asked by Finebaum if the gun in question belonged to Miller or Miles, Robinson confirmed that the gun belonged to Miles. She also notes that, according to police, Miller didn’t “hand” the gun to Miles but it was in the car that Miller drove to meet him.
Robinson also made it clear that, based on the evidence, it does not appear that Miller knew what was happening when Miles texted him to bring his gun and had no “knowledge of intent,” which is likely why he was not charged with any crimes.
It’s an incredibly sad situation where an innocent woman is dead and the Alabama basketball program has a lot of questions left to answer, but it’s good to be clear on the facts of the matter first.
Miles and Davis were arrested on capital murder charges for the killing of Jamea Jonae Harris in Tuscaloosa on January 15. Tuesday, a judge ruled that there is enough evidence against the defendants for the case to proceed to a grand jury for indictment consideration.
