Ex-Alabama basketball player Darius Miles seeks dismissal of capital murder charges
An Alabama judge has granted a former Alabama basketball player accused of capital murder a hearing to decide whether charges in the case will be dismissed. Attorneys for Darius Miles on Wednesday filed a motion for immunity, asking Tuscaloosa County Circuit Judge Daniel Pruet to dismiss capital murder charges on the grounds of self-defense, news outlets reported. Miles is accused in the January 15 shooting death of 23-year-old Jamea Jonae Harris, of Birmingham. Miles “respectfully requests that the Court, upon hearing the evidence, find (him) immune from prosecution” and the case against him dismissed, according to a filing from his attorney, Mary Turner, on Wednesday. Pruet granted Miles’ request for an immunity hearing, which is set for August 21. Miles, 21, and Michael Davis are both charged in connection to Harris’ death. Davis, 20, has sought youthful offender status, and since then, court files for Davis have been sealed. The outcome of that request was not clear as of Friday morning, al.com reported. Pruet denied bond for Miles in May, saying the issue will be revisited at a later date. Republished with the permission of The Associated Press.
Judge denies bond for ex-Alabama basketball player Darius Miles on capital murder charge
A judge denied bond Wednesday for former Alabama basketball player Darius Miles, who is facing a capital murder charge related to a fatal shooting near campus. Tuscaloosa County Circuit Judge Daniel Pruet said at a hearing Wednesday that the bond issue could be revisited later. Miles has pleaded not guilty in the January shooting death of 23-year-old Jamea Harris. The former reserve forward and Michael Lynn Davis, both 21 at the time, are charged with capital murder. Former Alabama teammates including Jahvon Quinerly, Jaden Quinerly, and Noah Gurley attended the hearing, according to al.com. The shooting occurred on the Strip, a student-oriented business district of bars and restaurants near the Tuscaloosa campus. Investigators said Harris was sitting in the passenger seat of a car when she was struck by a bullet, which brings a capital murder charge in Alabama. Davis is accused of firing the gun that killed the young woman, according to court documents filed in Tuscaloosa. Investigators wrote in a court document that Miles admitted to providing the handgun immediately before the shooting. Defense lawyers suggested in an earlier court hearing that the two were reacting defensively following an altercation with a young man in Harris’ group. Miles was dismissed from the Alabama team after his arrest. Republished with the permission of The Associated Press.
Alabama’s tournament run is over: UAB is making deep NIT run
On Friday, the University of Alabama men’s basketball team’s magical NCAA tournament run ended when the San Diego Aztecs defeated Alabama 71 to 64. The University of Alabama Birmingham (UAB) men’s basketball team has made a deep run in the NIT tournament. UAB defeated Vanderbilt 67 to 59 in the NIT quarterfinals. The 2022/2023 Alabama basketball team won the SEC tournament, the SEC regular season title, and their first two games in the NCAA tournament. Nate Oats is the head basketball Coach for the University of Alabama. “It’s not easy to win the regular season, the SEC tournament in the same year and make a Sweet 16 run,” Oats said. “It’s a great group that really loves each other. I mean, they’re going to be close for life, most of them. You know, I love the group, they love each other, and it’s just really disappointing that it’s ending early. But I think it’s one of the most memorable seasons in Alabama history, and they can walk out of here with their heads up.” In many ways, however, the season’s success was overshadowed by the January 15 slaying of 23-year-old Tamea Harris. According to the Tuscaloosa district attorney’s office, Harris was murdered by Tide player Darius Miles and associate Michael Davis in Tuscaloosa. Tuscaloosa police detective Branden Culpepper testified that standout Tide freshman Brandon Miller was responsible for bringing the murder weapon to the crime scene after Miles instructed him to do so. Miles was kicked off the team, but Miller was never charged in the murder and was not disciplined by the team. The story has drawn national headlines. Miller scored 9 points on Friday but was 3 of 19 from the field shooting. Despite a poor NCAA tournament performance, Miller is still expected to be among the top four players in the upcoming NBA draft. The University of Alabama, in its program history, has never gone to the final four of an NCAA tournament. San Diego State defeated Creighton 57 to 56 on Sunday to advance to the NCAA final four. UAB’s win over Vanderbilt was led by Trey Jemison, who scored 17 points and had 12 rebounds, and Jordan Walker, who had nineteen points and five assists. UAB is 3 and 0 versus Southeastern Conference (SEC) opponents this season. UAB Coach Andy Kennedy said, “That was just about desire and wanting to continue to play. That’s all it was for us. Certainly not our best game offensively, and Vanderbilt had a lot to do with that. I was really proud of our guys for finding ways on the defensive end. We’ve got Trey Jemison, who I thought was a huge difference maker with his presence in the paint.” UAB has a 28 and 9 record. They finished third in Conference USA behind Florida Atlantic and North Texas. UAB has gone to the NCAA tournament 15 times and the NIT 12 times. While this year’s UAB team did not make the NCAA field of 64, the 28 wins set a new program record for wins in a season. Walker’s 698 points for the season also set a new single-season record for the program. North Texas, Wisconsin, and Utah Valley State joined UAB in the NIT final four. UAB will play Utah Valley Tuesday night in Los Vegas. To connect with the author of this story or to comment, email brandonmreporter@gmail.com.
Gun laws, campus policies perplex college sports programs
At Alabama, one of the team’s best players allegedly delivered a gun that was used in a fatal shooting. At New Mexico State, a player avoided charges for shooting and killing a student in what he said was self-defense, even though he was carrying a gun in violation of school rules. At Michigan State, sports were suspended after gun violence on campus left three students dead. At LSU, the team’s leading wide receiver was arrested, but not charged, for carrying a gun through the French Quarter in New Orleans. The headlines over the past few months illustrate the challenge for athletic departments in determining how gun laws in their states and regulations at their schools should be applied to their programs and communicated to their players. An Associated Press analysis of more than a dozen schools in the NCAA tournaments shows a wide range of policies that govern guns at those schools and uneven efforts to regulate them. “I have no idea,” Michigan State basketball coach Tom Izzo told AP when asked what he should say to players who legally possess a gun. “Whatever the law is, you can’t supersede the law on your team or in your program.” Mississippi State coach Chris Jans, when asked about his own team’s gun policy: “That’s a good question. Not sure I know the correct answer to that right now.” The NCAA has no gun policy on its books, calling it a law-enforcement issue. That means rules for sports teams, if they exist, are derived from a mixture of state laws, university policies and, in some cases, supplements to those policies in the student-athlete handbooks. In some instances, coaches implement their own team rules. But as cases across the country have shown — just in the past four months alone — there is confusion, mixed messages and what some perceive as seat-of-the-pants decision-making on issues that can have life-or-death consequences. Marquette coach Shaka Smart said he’s been “yelled at by my superiors” over the years when he brings up sensitive topics such as guns to his players. So, he says, he treads lightly on the subject. “Now, should you be driving around with a gun in your glove compartment or whatever?” Smart said. “I’m not passing judgment on anyone anywhere else as it relates to that. But no, our players should not be doing that and I should not be doing that. And so I don’t, and they don’t.” Guns are prohibited in buildings on the Marquette campus in Milwaukee. At Kansas State, concealed weapons are allowed on campus, so long as they are legally owned. “We have to explain to them why we feel like one decision may be, in this moment in time, a little more prudent than another decision in another moment of their life,” K-State coach Jerome Tang said. “Like, later on in life, if they want to get a license, that’s fine. But right now, in this moment, it may not be as wise for you.” The AP’s analysis found that in many instances, school policies differ from state to state, and sometimes from campus to campus within the same state. Most student-athlete handbooks simply reiterate school policy regarding weapons. In Texas, open carry is not allowed at either the University of Houston or at the University of Texas in Austin, the site of a 1966 mass shooting from the clock tower on campus. But concealed carry is allowed in some areas of each campus, the listings of which are available on the school websites. The NCAA bans guns on the premises of its championship events, presumably meaning the Final Four sites — in Dallas (women) and Houston (men) — will be gun free. In Alabama, a state law that went into effect this year made it legal to openly carry a gun without a permit. Still, guns are prohibited on campus. Police say Alabama star Brandon Miller delivered a gun to a teammate and another person who are charged with the Jan. 15 fatal shooting of 23-year-old Jamea Harris. Miller has not been charged with a crime and has continued to play for his team, which is the overall top seed in the tournament that gets into full swing Thursday. But the school’s handling of Miller’s status in the aftermath of the shooting underscores the confusion over the topic. There was more than a month between the killing and police testimony that Miller had brought the gun to his teammate, Darius Miles, who was removed from the team after he was charged, then later indicted, in Harris’ death. “Our role in a criminal investigation is to support law enforcement, not to conduct our own investigation — and not to interfere with their efforts,” athletic director Greg Byrne said in an ESPN interview. At New Mexico State, campus officials appeared unprepared to deal with a shooting that resulted in the death of a student from University of New Mexico. NMSU forward Mike Peake said he was acting in self-defense when he shot and killed Brandon Travis last November while the Aggies were on a road trip in Albuquerque. Guns are prohibited on New Mexico State’s campus and on school road trips. Still, police say Peake brought the gun with him on the team bus; it took the school 16 days to permanently suspend him from the team after the shooting. “I don’t know if it’s a rule you talk about with the players, that you can’t bring a gun on the bus,” said Rus Bradburd, a former coach and current professor at New Mexico State whose book, “All the Dreams We’ve Dreamed,” tells the story of gun violence and basketball in Chicago. “But do you need to write that down? It’s like, I always wear pants to a faculty meeting, but that’s not anywhere in the bylaws. It’s sort of understood.” LSU receiver Malik Nabers was disciplined by the school (no specifics were given) but will not miss games next season after being arrested for illegally carrying a weapon on Bourbon Street last month. Had the incident happened on a busy
Alabama basketball wins SEC, gets NCAA number one seeding
On Sunday, the University of Alabama men’s basketball team defeated Texas A&M in the Southeastern Conference (SEC) tournament championship game 82 to 63. The Bama men were 29 and 5 this year and 16 and 2 in SEC play, winning the SEC regular season. Alabama enters the NCAA tournament as the number one team in the Associated Press poll for only the second time in program history. CBS Sports rates Alabama as the number one team in the country for strength of schedule. Star Forward Brandon Miller has completely dominated the competition in his first – and likely last – college basketball season. The freshman has averaged 19.5 points per game, 8.2 rebounds per game, and two assists per game in one of the greatest seasons on the court by a Tide basketball player in program history. The six foot nine inch Miller is projected to be one of the top four picks in the upcoming NBA draft if he goes pro. Miller scored 23 points, had 12 rebounds, and four assists in Sunday’s championship game. Miller was named the SEC Tournament Most Valuable Player. He was also named to the 2023 SEC all-conference team Sunday. “The funnest part is coming out here, getting the win with my guys in the SEC championship,” Miller told reporters after the win. Coach Nate Oates is a contender for the Coach of the Year award. Alabama will begin its NCAA tournament run as the number one seed in the South bracket. The Tide was the number one team overall, according to the selection committee. Their first-round opponent is the winner of the Texas A&M Corpus Christie Islanders and Southeast Missouri State game. The Tide is a prohibitive favorite. The game will be in Birmingham, on Thursday at 1:45 p.m. and will be broadcast by CBS Sports. If Alabama gets by the TXAMCC v. SE Miss. St. winner, they will then play the winner of the Maryland and West Virginia game. Alabama’s magical season, in many ways, has been overshadowed by an incident that occurred off the court. Former Tide basketball player Darius Miles was indicted by the Tuscaloosa grand jury last week for the murder of 23-year-old Jamea Harris. The young mom and her boyfriend were at a club on the Tuscaloosa strip when according to the Tuscaloosa Police, Miles approached Harris, and a scuffle with Harris’s boyfriend ensued. A Tuscaloosa detective testified that Miles then texted Miller, who had dropped off Miles, to come back and bring Miles’ gun. Miller complied with the request. Harris and her boyfriend were attempting to leave the scene but, according to some press reports, were blocked in by Miller’s vehicle. Miles then allegedly gave the gun to a friend Michael Davis. Davis then fired the gun into the vehicle. Harris was killed. Both Davis and Miles have been indicted in the slaying, while Miller, arguably the most talented basketball talent in UA history, was not charged as an accessory. Coach Oates did not even suspend Miller for a game, though Miles was kicked off the team. Miller has faced chants of “lock him up” on road games since his reported involvement in the slaying has become public knowledge, and the killing has drawn national attention. The Auburn Tigers also made the NCAA tournament. They are the number 9 seed in the Midwest bracket and will play number 8 seed Iowa. The game will be in Birmingham. Some national sports pundits have complained that the Birmingham location was unfair to Iowa, who was the higher seed. Auburn finished 20 and 12 overall and 10 and 8 in SEC play. To connect with the author of this story or to comment, email brandonmreporter@gmail.com.
