Nick Saban clarified his now-infamous “wrong place, wrong time” comment from earlier this week, telling reporters Thursday that he didn’t mean it as a jab at Nate Oats or the Alabama basketball program.

During a press conference Monday previewing spring football practice, Saban addressed the recent arrest of freshman defensive back Tony Mitchell. He said “there’s no such thing as being in the wrong place at the wrong time,” an eerily similar phrasing to one Oats made last month in defense of basketball star Brandon Miller.

Saban spoke with reporters at Alabama’s Pro Day Thursday. When asked to clarify his “wrong place, wrong time” comment, the Alabama football coach noted that any similarity between his words and those used by Oats was unintentional.

“There’s nothing to clarify,” Saban said. “I don’t watch basketball coaches’ press conferences. I haven’t watched basketball coaches’ press conferences in … how many years have I been coaching? You know? Never watched one. Never listened to what other people say.

“That was strictly about our program and what we do. It had nothing to do with anybody else. I don’t make any comments about anybody else. We hope the basketball team does really, really well.”

Oats drew fire from around the country after saying Feb. 21 that Miller was in the “wrong spot at the wrong time” on Jan. 15, when he was at the scene of the Tuscaloosa shooting death of Birmingham resident Jamea Harris. Police said the gun used in the shooting was retrieved from Miller’s car, though Miller’s attorneys and university officials have insisted the freshman basketball star did not know the weapon was there and was only present to give then-teammate Darius Miles a ride home.

Miles — who owned the gun — and friend Michael “Buzz” Davis were arrested and charged with capital murder in the death of Harris. Miles was immediately dismissed from the Alabama team and remains held in jail without bond.

Saban met with Oats and members of the Alabama basketball team on Wednesday, just before the team traveled to Louisville, Ky., for its Sweet 16 game with San Diego State. The top-seeded Crimson Tide (31-5) faces the fifth-seeded Aztecs (29-6) at KFC Yum! Center at 5:30 p.m. Friday in a game to be televised by TBS.