How Alabama Basketball Responded to the Darius Miles Incident

Crimson Tide head coach Nate Oats said that the team is aware of the resources provided by the university.

Joey Blackwell | Jan 16, 2023

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Alabama Crimson Tide

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Less than 12 hours after celebrating a 40-point lopsided win over LSU, Alabama basketball was struck with tragic news on Sunday morning as it was announced that junior forward Darius Miles had been charged with capital murder.

Miles, who is no longer affiliated with the Crimson Tide or the university as a whole, was charged in the murder of 23-year-old woman Jamea Jonae Harris, who was in town to visit her cousin and boyfriend over the weekend. Miles, 21, was arrested, along with Michael Lynn Davis, 20, of Maryland.

Due to shots being fired into a vehicle that contained Harris and another male, the charge is classified as capital murder according to Alabama state law. Harris is also the mother of a five-year-old son.

While UA released a statement as well as Alabama Athletics on Sunday afternoon, Crimson Tide head coach Nate Oats did not make a public statement on the matter. On Monday afternoon, however, Oats met with reporters to discuss the incident.

Oats began by extending his condolences to the family of Harris and condemning the incident "a senseless act" before discussing his message to the team.

"It's really a tragedy all around, but especially for Jamea and her family," Oats said. "Wish we weren't having to address this situation, but we gotta pull together as a team at this point and have each other's — you know, really be there for each other."

Oats then addressed the status of the team and how they have been handling the situation.

"You know, they’ve been good," Oats said. "There was a lot of hugs last night. I mean, everybody understands the situation. But I mean, everyone's aware of the services offered on campus and are taking advantage of them through our sports medicine for these types of situations.

"They're going to need some additional support moving forward, too."

Alabama basketball has started the season with a 15-2 record and is a perfect 5-0 in conference play. The team is currently scheduled to play at Vanderbilt on Tuesday night (7:30 p.m. CT, SEC Network), and Oats doubled-down on the team's intention to play the game as scheduled.

Oats also said that the entire available team will be traveling to Nashville and that the team will conduct a full practice on Monday before making the trip.

While he said that his players didn't have many questions regarding the incident with Miles, Oats did say that his players are currently undergoing a process of grief. However, Oats did say that he is confident in the resources that are available to the team from the university.

"We can’t answer anything dealing with the investigation obviously because it’s a pending investigation," Oats said. "They didn’t have many questions. It’s really just more kind of a grieving process. They understand the severity of this situation with Jamea, and they also understand the severity of this situation with Darius. And there’s both sides to it, dealing with it.

"It's not something you go through often as a coach, but I think we've got the services around the program to help us handle the situation."

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