This week’s mailbag opens with a painful question tied to the Tuscaloosa shooting that left Birmingham resident Jamea Harris dead in 2023.
A reader named Kelvin, who identified himself as Harris’ father-in-law, pointed to the defamation case involving the New York Times and its misidentification of the person in Brandon Miller’s car on the morning of Jan. 15, 2023. Kelvin said Miller’s deposition showed that Michael Davis was widely known around the Alabama program because of his relationship with Darius Miles and that he was “A REGULAR FIXTURE IN THE CRIMSON TIDE LOCKER ROOM.”
He also wrote that Miller admitted “it was a fact that the entire team knew Darius Miles was known to carry a green and black gun with him all the time.”
Kelvin’s larger complaint was aimed at Nate Oats. He questioned why Oats never had to explain how Davis, who was not a student, had access to the team and locker room, and why he was not aware that one of his players was known to carry a firearm.
The response argued that Harris’ family is living with unbearable grief and that the details surrounding her murder point to a troubling culture around Alabama basketball. It also said that while carrying firearms may be legal, players should not have been riding around with a gun, and that teams do not have gun policies.
The response drew a line between guns and normal team life, saying the issue was not about rifles at a gun club but about players carrying pistols around town “like they were some kind of fashion accessory.”
It also noted that Harris was murdered on Jan. 15, 2023, and that only months later Oats cut ties with Wichita State transfer and Alabama commitment Jaykwon Walton after Walton was arrested for marijuana while having three guns in his car.
Kelvin’s criticism of Miles was taken seriously in the response, which called it valid to ask why Miles was even on the team if everyone knew he was trouble and always armed. The response said coaches bear responsibility for what their players do and that keeping players from carrying guns around Tuscaloosa falls within that duty.
At the same time, it said a coach can’t be expected to predict that a team friend would become a murderer. Michael Davis was described as the kind of hanger-on who is not unusual around teams, and the response said Oats should have known Davis could be a problem, even if he could not have known what would happen.
Still, the response concluded that Oats shares blame for what it called a toxic team culture that season. If everyone on the team knew about Miles’ guns, the argument went, then Oats was negligent for not knowing it too.
Another reader, Magic Matt, shifted the conversation to Alabama’s jersey tradition. He thanked the columnist for the discussion and said Alabama fans take pride in the fact that the school does not retire numbers. He said that in the Bryant era, certain numbers had to be earned, comparing that practice to the color jersey worn in practice.
He listed examples such as No. 54 for Leroy Jordan, No. 73 for Billy Neighbors and No. 22 for Johnny Musso, calling them “hallowed and hard-won.” He added that a player would only be issued that number when the staff felt it had been earned, and said the tactic was used only rarely.
He also suggested a few numbers that could be earned by future players: 2, 6, 9, 12, 55, 80 and 82.
Billy B took a shot at the criticism aimed at Lane Kiffin and Nate Oats, writing, “Kiffin spit in someone’s face? What did Nate Oates and Alabama do last winter?
My my how soon we forget. Nate Oates is as bad an actor as Kiffin ever was or ever will be, AND you know it.”
The reply was brief and pointed: “Trailblazing Charles Bediako should have his jersey retired. Hang it in the rafters.”
Bill in Montgomery then chimed in with a quick note: “Hammer time … wow! So glad you will not be writing my obit!”
Finally, David in Flowery Branch, Ga., said he is a UAB Class of ’82 alum and has been amazed by how the campus and Birmingham have changed since he attended. Now living in north Georgia, he said the idea of Nick Saban as UAB’s next athletic director sounds absurd on the surface, but added that former UAB president Joseph Volker once said, “We would do ourselves an injustice if we didn’t dream big,” or something like that.
In Other News...
Alabama's First Test Just Got Trickier Than Fans Expected
Alabamas season opener already had the feel of a useful early test, but East Carolinas quarterback plan adds another layer to it. The Pirates are set to start veteran transfer Mitch Griffis against the Crimson Tide, and Miami transfer Emory Williams is also expected to see the field, giving ECU a mix of experience and pedigree at the position when the teams meet.
For Alabama, the matchup comes with its own questions because 19-year-old Keelon Russell is set to start at quarterback. Griffis brings significant college experience into the game, while Williams arrives as a former four-star recruit who will be in reserve, so the Tide will be facing a quarterback room with real depth rather than a simple opening-day placeholder. It is the kind of early-season wrinkle that can make a supposedly straightforward opener feel a lot less predictable. [Read more 🡒]
Jalen Milroe's NFL Future Just Took An Unsettling Turn
Jalen Milroes transition from Tuscaloosa to the NFL has already hit a tricky early stretch. The former Alabama quarterback, taken in the third round by the Seahawks, entered Seattle with the kind of physical tools that always invite optimism, but the roster picture around him is suddenly less straightforward than it looked on draft day. With Sam Darnold installed as the starter, Milroe is fighting to prove he belongs on the active roster rather than slipping into a more uncertain role as the team gets closer to cutdown day.
For Alabama fans, the uneasy part is not the talent question so much as the fit and the timeline. Milroe has the arm strength and athletic profile that made him such an intriguing pro prospect, but his comfort level and overall performance in the NFL are still works in progress. If Seattle decides he is not ready to stick on the 53-man roster, the discussion could quickly shift to whether he lands on the practice squad or becomes a trade possibility, which is hardly the smooth landing spot many imagined for him just a few months ago. [Read more 🡒]
Alabama Just Drew A Hard Line On One SEC Roster Fight
The SEC has taken a harder line on roster building, approving a new rule that would punish schools for adding players who have already spent time in the NFL, NBA or NBA G-League. For Alabama, the move fits a broader push to keep the conversation centered on the players already in the program, with general manager Courtney Morgan saying the new rules should cut down on the kind of outside noise that can surround college rosters in the transfer era.
It also arrives against a backdrop of ongoing legal fights over player eligibility, including cases tied to former players such as Dae'quan Wright and Charles Bediako. Those disputes have kept the line between amateur and professional pathways in the spotlight, and the SEC's latest move only adds another layer to a debate that is still very much alive around how schools build and police their rosters. [Read more 🡒]