Nate Oats Reacts to Brandon Miller Not Winning SEC Weekly Award
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Six times this year, Alabama's star freshman Brandon Miller has been named the SEC Freshman of the Week. But after dropping a career-high 41 points against South Carolina and another 24 in the home win over Arkansas, Miller did not win the award this Monday.
Instead, it went to Nick Smith Jr. of Arkansas, who averaged 25 points and three rebounds per game in the Razorbacks win over Georgia and loss to the Crimson Tide. Kentucky's Oscar Tshiebwe won conference player of the week honors with 23.5 points per game in the Wildcats' wins over Florida and Auburn.
Alabama head coach Nate Oats said they're proud of the week Miller had and the way he was able to focus amidst distractions swirling around the court after his involvement in the capital murder case of Jamea Harris was made public at a preliminary bond hearing for former teammate Darius Miles. Oats did not take away anything from the weeks Tshiebwe and Smith had.
"The two guys that got the awards— Oscar had a great week too," Oats said. "I mean, look, he's the reigning Player of the Year in the country. Kentucky had a dominating win, another strong win. You kind of look to what the team does too. And we had two solid wins, but our team hasn’t played as well as it maybe needed to.
"And then Nick Smith’s coming off the injury. He played well. Here’s the deal, in our league in the SEC, they’ve got to make tough decisions every week to who gets it. So there were great players that got the award. Brandon's had a good week.
Oats was asked whether or not the off-court controversy is going to affect Miller's chance of getting more accolades like SEC Freshman of the Year or national awards as the season winds down.
"I'm sure he'll get awards moving forward," Oats said. "We’ll address that as it comes up. I don’t know the answer to the second part of your question to be honest with you.”
Miller would be just the third Alabama player to win SEC Freshman of the Year, joining Mo Williams in 2002 and Collin Sexton in 2018.
See also:
Alabama Basketball Holds at No. 2 in Latest AP Top 25, Coaches Poll
How to Watch: No. 2 Alabama Basketball vs. Auburn
Nate Oats Takes Blame for Brandon Miller's "Clear for Takeoff" Celebration
