Alabama's Brandon Miller has armed security guard due to threats

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Alabama star Brandon Miller was accompanied to the NCAA tournament by an armed security guard Wednesday because of threats directed at him, Crimson Tide coach Nate Oats said.

«If you guys saw some of what I've seen sent his way, I think you would understand why that's the case,» Oats said of the extra protection the school has lined up for Miller. «I don't want to get into all that. The entire situation, as you know, is just a heartbreaking situation on all accounts.»

Miller's name surfaced last month in court testimony involving the capital murder case of former Alabama player Darius Miles and another man, who are charged in the fatal shooting of 23-year-old Jamea Harris on Jan. 15.

A police officer testified that Miles texted Miller asking him to bring Miles' gun in the early-morning hours of the shooting. Fellow freshman starter Jaden Bradley was also at the scene. Neither Miller nor Bradley has been accused of any crime, and the university has described Miller as a cooperating witness, not a suspect.

The Crimson Tide (29-5) have a No. 1 seed in the tournament for the first time in school history. They'll play their opening game in the South Regional on Thursday, facing No. 16 seed Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in Birmingham — less than an hour's drive from the Alabama campus in Tuscaloosa.

The guard, who wore a gun, badge and Alabama polo shirt, accompanied Miller to the interview area and later watched him take part in a light practice.

The freshman, who was the SEC player and newcomer of the year, declined to go into specifics about the extra security, implying that it was nothing unusual.

«I always travel with security to all the games,» Miller said. «That's all I'm going to say on that.»

But Oats