What has been looking like a storybook season for Alabama basketball could be coming to an abrupt end right at the wrong time. This is what we know so far:
"Jamea Jonae Harris, 23, was killed by gunfire on The Strip in Tuscaloosa on Jan. 15. The initial investigation focused on two men, one of whom was a Tide player, Darius Miles, who had confronted Harris and her boyfriend before the argument erupted into gunfire.
We learned via the investigation last week that Brandon Miller, the star player on Alabama and arguably one of the best players in the country brought the gun at the request of his friend Darius Miles.
It turns out there were several players involved, yet none of them have been suspended or questioned. To be fair, earlier in the year before they knew Miller was the one who brought the gun, he was considered a person of interest and questioned, but they quickly moved on and charged two other people. Likely not basketball players.
There was even a point where the coach or someone else on the staff indicated that it was simply an instance of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
An article I read summed it up best for me:
"Running out of gas on railroad tracks is being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Brandon Miller knowingly and willfully brought a gun to a situation where a woman was fatally shot".
That isn't even close to being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
I'm honestly not shocked that we are seeing this being downplayed so much. It has happened countless times over the years. That worthless swimmer Brock whatever is a perfect example. How about those football players in Ohio? When sports are at risk, nothing else seems to matter does it?
In fact, players have outright mocked the whole situation by "patting down" Miller during pregame introductions. Talk about tasteless.
Alabama continues to play Miller even though a modicum of tact would be well advised. I have little doubt that we won't see any kind of additional investigation into this until after the NCAA tournament is over. My one hope is that Bama gets knocked out in the first or second round.
Talk about poetic justice.
It is going to be interesting to see what happens. I have little doubt if this wasn't a star basketball player, an investigation would have been (re)opened immediately once the news of who brought the gun came up.
It's an injustice to the victim and their family. It's an injustice to us all as fans.
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Man, this situation is messed up. I can't believe they're still playing Miller after everything that's come out. It's like they don't care about the victim and her family. And the fact that they're not even suspending any of the other players who were involved just shows how messed up college sports can be. I hope the NCAA does the right thing and investigates this fully but I won't hold my breath. In the meantime, I'll be rooting against Alabama in the tournament with you.
There are a lot of good teams out there and things really heat up when the tournament starts, so I wouldn't be shocked if someone is able to take them out early. I'm kind of surprised that he is still playing, but then again, I am not. I think we all know how important these schools think sports are. SEC and their network pulls in millions of dollars from viewership that gets funneled back to the schools. They don't want to give that up.