BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — The Alabama men’s basketball saga took a new turn Wednesday when star player Brandon Miller came to an NCAA tournament press conference accompanied by armed security. When asked about the unusual, perhaps unprecedented, security presence, coach Nate Oats alluded to Miller receiving threatening correspondence.
“If you guys saw some of what I’ve seen sent his way, I think you’d understand why that’s the case,” Oats said. “I don’t want to get into all that—the entire situation, as you know, is a heartbreaking situation on all accounts. But some of the messages from people that can sit behind fake email addresses—who knows if they’re real or not. … Our administration has seen stuff that I’ve seen, and [the security presence] is appropriate. It’s nothing that a college kid should have to go through.”
A man wearing a crimson Alabama basketball shirt, with a gun on his right hip and a badge on his belt, stood off-podium while Miller and teammate Mark Sears answered questions from the media. He also accompanied the Crimson Tide players through Legacy Arena to and from the interview room. When Alabama took the court for practice, he positioned himself at one end of the court. He was joined later in the practice by another armed man who was not wearing Alabama gear.
