Thursday, October 02, 2008

Miles Will Appeal

Nate Miles, the talented, 20-year-old UConn freshman basketball player with the checkered past, was expelled from the university on Thursday. However, the story may be far from over.

Sean Patterson, Miles' former legal guardian, vows to appeal the decision made by a UConn administrative board.

"I'm going to fight this thing, tooth and nail," Patterson said. "We fought too hard to get him here. And I won't stop at an appeal. The last I heard, this is the United States. If they want to do this, I'll take every option for them to show me what he's guilty of."

According to the UConn student handbook, Miles has five days to appeal the decision.

Miles was arrested last week for violating a restraining order taken out against him by a 19-year-old female UConn student, who said in an affidavit that Miles had pressured her for sex and had become physical with her a few times.

Miles was served with a restraining order at about 8 p.m. on Sept. 22. About 15 minutes later, he called the woman, in violation of the order. He was arrested and later released on $2,500 surety bond.

Both Miles and the woman, a junior, met before a UConn administrative board on Thursday morning. It's not clear whether or not they were ever in the same room together.

Miles faced the board along with his attorney, Rob Britt. Patterson lives in Texas and was not at the hearing.

"From what I understand, the girl said she didn't want anybody in trouble, she just wanted him to say 'I'm sorry,'" Patterson said. "She admitted everything was consensual."

Patterson believes that the board may have been swayed by a couple of recent high-profile sexual assault situations on campus.

"I still don't know what he's guilty of, other than making a phone call," Patterson continued. "There's nothing that's been found, no charges have been filed. They had an argument. It's a he said, she said thing. In the end, Nate didn't lie. They basically told the same story."

"They're singing off the same song sheet."

Patterson said Miles is on his way back to his Toledo home with his mother, who came to Storrs to support him but wasn't allowed in the room with him.

"He still doesn't understand it," Patterson reported. "We don't understand. In my mind, it's as if they had their minds made up when he walked in because of all the recent things, and Nate just proved to be example. I could live with 'he was found guilty of this, he did this.'"

Patterson noted that he has two daughters, and is by no means blindly supporting Miles.

"If he did it, I'd say 'pack your bags, Nate, you screwed up.' But he didn't do it. All she wanted was an apology."

Patterson continued: "I wouldn't want this upon anybody's son or daughter, either way. Both of the kids got involved with a big political situation, much bigger than they thought it was going to be. The results are, one man's life is affected forever.

"He's crushed right now. Someone's got to stand up for him. It was a couple of great months, he made some great bonds, he had the opportunity to play for, in my opinion, one of the greatest coaches in college basketball. And it got taken away because he made a dumb decision."

Read much more in tomorrow's New Haven Register

Miles Expelled

A source close to the UConn men's basketball program has confirmed that Nate Miles has been expelled from the school, and that the Huskies are ready to move on from the entire situation.

Miles, when reached by cell phone earlier this evening, offered no comment.

Much more to come on this ...

Some good news involving the program: Ater Majok, a 6-foot-10 forward, finished his term at his school in Australia today, and the school has released his paperwork to the NCAA. If Majok is cleared to play by the NCAA (which isn't expected to be a problem), he could be a Husky by mid-December.

Majok is a skilled four who could play some three. With Miles gone, the only other true three in the Huskies' program would be Stanley Robinson, who isn't currently enrolled at the school. Once Robinson fulfills some personal obligations, however, he is expected to be enrolled at UConn by mid-December and could also join the team at that time.

Wednesday, October 01, 2008

Details of Restraining Order Against Nate Miles

The restraining order taken out against UConn freshman basketball player Nate Miles by a female UConn student stems from several incidents in which the alleged victim was "physically and sexually assaulted," according to a written statement by the 19-year-old woman.

The woman, a Manchester resident, said in an affidavit that she began a relationship with Miles on Sept. 6 and, within about a week, began encountering incidents of alleged abuse.

The affidavit reports multiple instances of Miles' aggressive behavior, including digging his nails into her skin when he became angry and, on at least three occasions, making physical contact with her – one time allegedly slapping her and pushing her out of bed after she had hit him.

The statement also alleges that Miles became "extremely possessive," and on one occasion tried to physically pressure her to have sex.

In the affidavit, the alleged victim states that on Sept. 14 she went to Miles' dorm room and he began pressuring her for sex. At one time when she resisted, he allegedly "tapped" her in the face, according to the statement, and later dug his nails into her skin. When she hit him back, Miles "slapped me and pushed me off the bed," the woman said in her statement.

She said she left the room and the argument continued for about 30 minutes in the hallway. Two days later, the alleged victim said she confronted Miles about the nail-digging and he said she was "weak," according to the statement.

The woman said she filed a report with UConn police on Sept. 21. Miles was issued the restraining order on Sept. 22 at about 8 p.m. About 15 minutes after receiving the order, he called the woman – violating the terms of the order – and was arrested and later released on $2,500 surety bond.

Read much more about this in tomorrow's New Haven Register

Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Miles Issued a Protective Order

A protective order has been issued to Nate Miles, the UConn freshman basketball player who appeared in Rockville Superior Court on Tuesday for violating a restraining order last week.

The restraining order was taken out by a 19-year-old Manchester woman who is a junior at UConn.

Miles' case was continued until Nov. 25. He will continue to undergo individual counseling until that time, when he will appear in court again.