The official line from Alabama reads that Nick Saban's "there's no such thing as wrong place, wrong time" comment was a pure coincidence. Our staff, along with many (most?) of the public, wasn't buying, instead reading it as a pointed criticism at Alabama leadership's handling of Brandon Miller's involvement in a January murder.
Either way, Alabama clearly felt that there was a close enough link that some public relations clean-up was necessary.
And so, on Wednesday, some p.r. clean-up was done.
Appreciate Coach Saban spending some time with us this morning before we head to Louisville for the #Sweet16. #RollTide pic.twitter.com/Zbs8eH9dCS
— Alabama Men’s Basketball (@AlabamaMBB) March 22, 2023
Look at all those smiling faces! There's no way Coach can be upset with the Tide basketball team, right?
A cynical view here would be that Nick was plenty happy to publicly bury the hatchet... after he publicly got his point across first.
Whether or not that was ever true, the top of Alabama's leadership clearly felt it necessary to show there's no rift between the greatest college football coach of all time and, perhaps, the best team in college basketball.
With this sideshow of an ongoing story now behind them, the 2022-23 Alabama basketball story can continue. Top-seeded Alabama faces fifth-seeded San Diego State on Friday in Louisville (6:30 p.m. ET, TBS).
As always, stay tuned to The Scoop for the latest.