WATCH: South Carolina student section chants 'Lock him up' at Brandon Miller after police testimony
More than 24 hours after police testified Alabama star Brandon Miller allegedly received texts from former Crimson Tide player Darius Miles to bring the gun used in last month’s shooting. Miller is playing in Wednesday’s game against South Carolina, and the Gamecocks student section is letting him hear it.
Early in the first half, the fans booed Miller when he touched the ball and, at one point, changed “guilty” toward him. Then, when he stepped to the free throw line, they started chanting “Lock him up.”
A fan captured the video.
News of Miller’s apparent involvement took the college basketball world by storm amid his strong freshman season. He leads all Division I freshmen with 18.7 points per game and also leads Alabama with 8.0 rebounds per game this season.
Miller’s attorney released a statement with his side of the story, saying he didn’t know there was a gun in his car that night. Then, Alabama athletic director Greg Byrne joined the ESPN College GameDay podcast to provide some clarity, saying he was told Miller was Miles’ ride that night and reiterated the projected lottery pick in the NBA Draft didn’t realize a gun was in the back seat.
“We found out some new facts yesterday, we found out some new facts today,” Byrne said. “Here’s what we know. Brandon Miller was not there for the verbal altercation. Brandon was already on his way to pick up Darius when Darius texted him. Brandon never left his vehicle and was not involved in the collection of the weapon. The shooting occurred just seconds after Brandon arrived. Brandon has been fully cooperating with this and is not a suspect.
“Yesterday, we began to hear some new things from the hearing, and Coach Oats had just come out of practice and did not have the information from the hearing when he was talking with the media directly after practice. He did not handle that in a way that he should have. We’ve addressed that with him. With that, Coach Oats only has so much information as well. Only law enforcement knows all the facts of this situation. The rest of us are still learning things. Given the gravity of the situation and out of respect for the judicial process, I’d urge everyone to defer to the facts provided by law enforcement rather than relying on social media or other snippets of information that lack context or form conclusions.”