A week that began with a somber mood around Alabama’s basketball program Monday in the wake of Darius Miles’ arrest for capital murder ended a lighter note Friday.

Before the Tide left for Saturday’s game at Missouri, coach Nate Oats held a 25-minute news conference — possibly his longest since becoming coach in 2019 — that touched on serious matters involving Miles but also the team’s trip to a Buc-ee’s gas station in Athens after Tuesday night’s win in Nashville.

“Obviously, we’re still within the week of when it all happened,” Oats said Friday of how the team is processing having a now-former teammate arrested. “Everybody is still taking it day-by-day. Everyone processes things differently. Different guys are feeling different ways each day. But continuing to lean on the support of each other. Seeing counselors, sports psychologists.”

Oats has continued to read his team passages from the Bible, noting Friday he told his team the story of Joseph from the Book of Genesis.

“Our thoughts and prayers are still with Jamea and her family,” he said. “I think of Kaine, her five-year old son. I was an educator in Detroit for 11 years and had the opportunity to see some of that. They’re going to have a village of people surround him and just praying for people to be able to step up and help raise Kaine.

“I’m praying for Darius and his family, as well. It’s an awful situation for them to be in.

“Just different guys processing things differently and guys that were tighter to Darius obviously are taking some of it a little harder. I think overall, I think sometimes you use these instances to pull a group tighter together. I think our guys, they have to come tighter together because of what they’ve been through.”

The back-to-back road games mean more time spent together, too.

“To be honest with you, the two road trips back to back after the whole incident happened is not the worst thing to happen,” Oats said. “You get on the road, spend some time together, healing together, talking through it. I think it’s actually a good situation.”

A return to normalcy is the goal, Oats said, with its practice schedule back on track late this week after Sunday’s session was canceled and Vanderbilt preparation was consolidated.

“They met with counselors. A sports psychologist was here,” he said. “In me talking to the different people I’ve talked to, as well, we’ve got to get them back into a disciplined day as normal as possible, their minds are obviously going to be with Jamea’s family, Kaine — they feel bad for the whole situation. They’re going to be with Darius and his family. They all are, the whole program is.

“But as much sense of normalcy as we can get — go to class, get your treatment, come into practice. We’re trying to — while still keeping everything in prayer and talking about it while need-be, we’re still trying to make this as normal of a situation as you possibly can. “

Alabama could not fly home from its emotional game in Nashville because of fog, so it took a bus back to Tuscaloosa. Athletics director Greg Byrne, along from the trip, shared a photo of him and Oats from the Buc-ee’s gas station in North Alabama.

“I got on the microphone to talk over the bus, and told them what the scenario is,” Oats said of leaving Memorial Gymnasium. “Brandon [Miller] shot me a text from the back of the bus. ‘Sleepover at the Miller house?’ He’s from up there [in Nashville]. I said, ‘All 50 of us?’ He said, ‘Eh, it would be as tight as it is on this bus.’”

That drew a smile Friday from Oats, something that would have been inconceivable Monday.

“I guess the bus company is based out of Nashville and Huntsville both, so they got us a second bus in Huntsville,” Oats explained. “So the bus company said to meet them at Buc-ees. We took half the people [in the other bus] so we could spread out a little more and sleep. But I’m under the understanding that Greg Byrne is a big Buc-ee’s fan, so I’m sure he’s happy we did the bus changeover at one.

“It’s the first time I’ve been in one. They have a lot of stuff in there you don’t normally see. It’s not a normal gas station. I mean, shoot, you can buy — restaurant/grocery store/convenience store — they got a lot of stuff in there. I didn’t buy too much of it. A lot of our players walked out with big bags of food, though.”

Oats later revealed his purchases: almonds and pickles, he said, because he is taking part in a staff weight-loss contest. Then came a question about velvet paintings apparently sold at the store.

“I didn’t even make it over to that section,” he said. “I’m not gonna buy my art from Buc-ee’s, I don’t think.”

Mike Rodak is an Alabama beat reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @mikerodak.