Nate Oats addresses Brandon Miller’s inappropriate pregame introduction

Alabama basketball coach Nate Oats addressed the inappropriate pregame introduction used by Brandon Miller prior to Saturday’s 86-83 win over Arkansas.

When Miller’s name was called for pregame player introductions, he walked through a tunnel of teammates and slapped hands with them. Then he got to the end, spread his arms, and was patted down by a teammate.

Brandon Miller being introduced during the starting lineups pic.twitter.com/Fen0xT8V8L

— Ryan Hennessy (@RyanWVTM13) February 25, 2023

Miller has been doing that all season during introductions, but the pat-down gesture looks particularly bad in light of recent events.

A police detective testified on Tuesday that Miller brought the gun that was used in the January 15 killing of 23-year-old Jamea Harris in Tuscaloosa. The gun belonged to former Alabama player Darius Miles, who had sent a text message to Miller saying that he needed the gun.

Miller has continued to play for Alabama all season despite his involvement in the matter, which saw Miles kicked off the team and subsequently be charged with capital murder. Alleged shooter Michael Davis, who is Miles’ friend, has also been charged with capital murder.

Miller’s attorney defended the freshman forward in a statement, saying Miller had no idea the gun would be used for anything illegal.

Miller has been doing the pregame introduction all season and seemed to just be going through the motions on Saturday. But that didn’t matter much, because the introduction was inappropriate given the circumstances.

Oats addressed the matter after the game, saying he’s told his players to cut it out.

Deleted previous tweet to give Oats' full quote and context re: Brandon Miller's pregame pat-down introduction. Oats in effect said he was unaware of this because he never watches the pre-game introductions and has been unaware of what the players are doing during them. pic.twitter.com/wH0rGECvRt

— Matt Norlander (@MattNorlander) February 25, 2023

“Before I get started on the game, it was brought to my attention after the game about our pregame introductions. I think that’s something that’s been going on all year. I don’t really know. I don’t watch our introductions, I’m not involved with them. I’m drawing up plays during that time. Regardless, it’s not appropriate. It’s been addressed, and I can assure you it definitely will not happen again for the remainder of this year,” Oats said after the game.

Miller led Alabama with 24 points in the win, which helped the Crimson Tide improve to 25-4.