Alabama men’s basketball coach Nate Oats addressed media on Wednesday after the Crimson Tide’s overtime win against South Carolina. The game was hardly the focal point of his postgame address however, as Oats discussed and apologized for his recent comments regarding the murder investigation involving former player Darius Miles and star Brandon Miller’s involvement in the investigation.
Oats issued an apology for his previous comments, stating his regret over what he called a "poor choice of words."
“I’m not here to make excuses, but I want to make it clear I didn’t have the details from the hearing that morning since I was coming straight from practice,” Oats said on Wednesday evening. “I used a poor choice of words, making it appear I wasn’t taking this tragic situation seriously, which we have throughout the course of it. I sincerely apologize for that.”
Oats reiterated his apology from Tuesday night, and also explained the decision to let Miller play on Wednesday night amid police testimony that he brought the gun that was used in the killing.
"We make decisions based on available facts," said Oats of Miller’s status. "And that’s what we did here."
Alabama narrowly escaped with a 78-76 win over South Carolina. Miller had a huge night, scoring 41 points on 14-of-25 shooting from the field. Despite significant distractions surrounding the freshman, he was able to lead his team to its 24th victory of the season.
