Brandon Miller blocked a shot in a win over UK earlier this season. (Vicky Graff Photo)
Two basketball-related stories broke Tuesday — one in college and one in Kentucky high school play.
Carol Robinson of Al.com reported that the gun former Alabama basketball player Darius Miles and Michael “Buzz” Davis had in the Jan. 15 killing of a Tuscaloosa woman was brought to them by star Alabama freshman Brandon Miller.
Alabama leads the Southeastern Conference, has been ranked No. 1 this year and recently was projected as a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
The news about Miller’s involvement in the woman’s death came out in court testimony by law enforcement Tuesday that led to capital murder charges for Miles and Davis. Miles contacted Miller to bring his gun to him that night, according to Det. Branden Culpepper.
Miller’s windshield was struck twice by gunfire in the shooting and Alabama basketball player Jaden Bradley was also at the scene, according to testimony.
Alabama coach Nate Oats — a man some have indicated might be a good future choice as Kentucky’s coach — has continued to play Miller knowing what happened that night.
“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 said in Robinson’s story.
Wrong spot at wrong time? Come on Nate. He took a gun to his friend. He went to exactly the spot he was asked to come to and parked his car Certainly he had no way of knowing what would happen but for Oats to be okay with a freshman taking a teammate to a gun seems a little troublesome to me.
What impact will this have on Alabama basketball, which was pummeled at Tennessee last week for its first SEC loss? The spotlight is going to shine on Oats and Miller the next few weeks. Miller’s involvement in this shooting will be brought up every game the Tide plays the rest of the regular season and certainly in postseason play.
I interviewed Miller at the 2021 Marshall County Hoopfest when his Tennessee high school team played there. Seemed like a nice young man and Oats is right that there has been no hint of problems with Miller this season. But being involved in something like this just does not go away even if Oats says he is not in any type of trouble with the team or law enforcement.
(You can read Robinson’s story here)
UHA Coach Arrested
University Heights Academy’s head basketball coach Melvin Brown was arrested Tuesday following an investigation by the DEA according to wkdzradio.com. He was indicted by a federal grand jury for drug trafficking conspiracy and money laundering charges.
UHA is 19-10 going into postseason play and one of the teams with a chance to win the 2nd Region before it lost 55-52 to Christian County in the 8th District Tournament Monday night to end its season.
This was a joint investigation by the Paducah Drug Enforcement Administration Post, the Hopkinsville Police Department Special Investigations Section and the Tulsa DEA Resident office. That’s a big-time investigation and police reported that a large amount of U.S. currency, a handgun and illicit drugs were found after search warrants were served and then Brown was indicted.
Less than a week ago Brown was named the 2nd Region Boys Coach of the Year by the Kentucky Association of Basketball Coaches. His team won the 2nd Region All “A” Classic, this season.
Brown is a 2002 graduate of University Heights and 2007 graduate of Berea College. He was an assistant at UHA before being named head coach in June of 2021.
9 Responses
The kid started the chain of events and he’s still on the team ?????
You have to be kidding me.
I don’t know how Miller was not charged as an accessory to murder? And definitely do not know how him and Bradley have remained on the team.
It’s all a sickening cover up. I wanted Nate Oats as Cal’s replacement. Not now! He doesn’t deserve to be coaching anywhere. This is not proper behavior for a man leading young men.
Disgusting.
Oats, Miller and Bradley should be shown the door today.
So what you people are saying is that if you are at a dinner with a lot of family members and one asks you to pass a knife, they tun and stab someone you should beheld responsible for supplying the knife?? Stupid example, I know, but same circumstances.
If there is any proof he knew they were going to shoot someone, then it’s a different story. The word "gun" makes people freak out and lose their common sense. It could have been a hammer, a pencil, a knife, even a butter knife. The weapon doesn’t change the scenario.
If my brother asked me to bring him a hammer, which by the way is one of the leading murder weapons, if he kills someone with it, I am not responsible for what his actions.
I think the kid has every right to resume his life, unless evidence comes out he knew something was going to happen.
Why did he use his vehicle to block the exit path for the woman his friend shot with the gun he delivered?
This incident involved 3 Alabama basketball players, and a "friend" of at least one of these players.
How can the University of Alabama allow Nate Oats to remain in that position for another hour.
Great question Professor
If they are hiding something, I hope they find it and put them all in prison. Cell phone data can be easily traced and is admissible evidence. The texts, voice mails, and voice conversations are all saved on servers by the government. There very well could be a cover up, but I like facts and data.
How is it that a college freshman is 20 years old?