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.”