'He's different': Oats, teammates rave over freshman Brandon Miller

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Darius Miles didn’t need many words to describe how special freshman forward Brandon Miller is, calling him “different.”

And his teammates tend to agree.

“That was actually the exact word I was going to say,” Charles Bediako said. “He’s different and a really good player for sure.”

While he’ll need time to adjust to playing college basketball, that gap between high school and the collegiate level may be a lot closer than realized.

During the team’s trip to Europe, Miller led the team in scoring while also pacing the team in “Blue Collar” stats. According to Nate Oats, it’s a rarity for a player to lead in both categories, but it got the true freshman going in all three games of the foreign tour.

His play early not only has the former five-star prospect in the conversation to start right away but he has also been labeled as one of the best true freshmen to suit up under Oats.

“No I haven’t had as talented of a freshman as Brandon,” Oats said. “Kira (Lewis Jr.) was freshman-aged but had played a year of college already. He was the same age and Kira was pretty good for sure, but technically he was a sophomore, but probably not here, to be honest with you.

“Going back to Buffalo, I had some good freshman but not you’re not supposed to get the same level of players at Buffalo that you’re able to get at Alabama.”

Oats added that Miller should make plenty of money and play in the NBA for a long time, which rivals him with former lottery pick Collin Sexton. In his lone season with the Crimson Tide, Sexton set the Alabama single-season scoring mark and finished second in the SEC with 19.2 points per game as he led the program to its first NCAA Tournament win since 2006.

Along with his talent, Miller’s 6-foot-9 frame allows Oats the flexibility to move the freshman up and down the starting lineup, citing that he’s comfortable enough handling the ball to be a point guard and is big enough to play down low as a power forward or a center. While he may never play at the No. 5, Alabama hasn’t seen that type of flexibility since Herb Jones.

The hype around Miller continues to build as Alabama approaches to start of the season, and while there will be a considerable amount of pressure for Miller to lead the team back to the NCAA Tournament, Bediako just wants Miller to maintain his confidence, no matter how things are going on the floor.

“One piece of advice is don’t worry when stuff is not going your way,” Bediako said. “You just have to play through the adversity and also be ready for the pace of the play. The game is fast and physical, but he’s really good so I think he’s going to be just fine.”