Everything Nate Oats Said About Darius Miles Arrest, Upcoming Game at Vanderbilt
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Alabama head coach Nate Oats addressed the media just one day after his former player was arrested and charged with capital murder in the death of Jamea Jonae Harris and one day ahead of his team's SEC road game at Vanderbilt.
Here's everything the Alabama head coach had to say:
Full Transcript
Opening Statement
“I just want to start today by offering our deepest condolences to the family and friends of Jamea Jonae Harris— young woman, daughter and mother who was taken away too soon from a senseless act. This is an incredibly sad situation. Our hearts go out to her loved ones. We’re keeping them in our thoughts and prayers as they continue to grieve.
“We came together last night and talked. I thought it was important that we were all here and around to support one another through this situation.
“With this being a pending investigation, there’s nothing I can add that hasn’t already been shared. You may have some questions, but there's nothing I can comment on relative to Darius’ situation and the investigation. Again, our sympathies to Jamea’s family following this unimaginable loss. This is a really difficult situation.
“We’re continuing to support each other as we process this and balance school and basketball. To that end, we regrouped this morning to maintain our routine and some structure in the midst of the situation. We'll practice before heading up to Nashville for the Vanderbilt game.”
What was the message to the team?
“It's really a tragedy all around, but especially for Jamea and her family. I wish we weren’t having to address this situation. But we’ve got to pull together as a team at this point, have each other’s… really be there for each other.”
How are the players responding?
“You know, they’ve been good. 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.”
How do you help players process and answer their questions?
“We can’t answer anything dealing with the investigation obviously because it’s a pending investigation. 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.”
Was the situation isolated to Darius, or were there any other players involved?
“As I mentioned earlier, all of us got together last night—it’s an ongoing investigation. Our entire remaining team is traveling to Nashville and will be available to play in the game tomorrow.”
How did you learn of the situation?
“I got a call Sunday morning that alerted me to what was going on, and I immediately called Greg [Byrne], and we started putting our plan in place together to handle situations like this.”
What went into the decision to keep Miles out earlier, and what steps did Alabama take to help him through the personal matter?
“He actually went back home to D.C. to deal with the personal matter that he was out a couple weeks with. And he had the ankle injury— it was kind of ongoing. So I mean he's had multiple issues. They were all completely unrelated to the this incident Saturday though, or Sunday morning.”
How will this change team rules after incident like this?
“I think everyone listens a little closer after an incident like this. We've had speakers come in and talk to the team about off-floor conduct, and we'll continue to do that and are continuing to do that now. They seem to listen a little closer during moments like this.”
How do you personally process this?
“I’ve got three daughters. It went through my mind how easily it could have been one of mine, tough situation. I talked to Darius’ mother multiple times yesterday— very hard situation on both accounts. We just continue to pray for Jamea and her family. I didn’t know them, but they’re certainly in our thoughts and prayers. And continuing to pray for Darius’ situation too. It’s just an unfortunate incident that I wish we weren’t having to deal with today.”
