Rick Pitino was the first coach to lose his job over the FBI investigation into corruption in college basketball. Could Sean Miller be next?
The Arizona coach was not be on the sideline Saturday in the Wildcats’ 98-93 overtime loss against Oregon, in the wake of an ESPN report that revealed his alleged involvement to pay a recruit.
In the statement, Arizona said it was a mutual decision in the “best interests of the University and the basketball program.” Associate head coach Lorenzo Romar will replace Miller for the time being.
According to the report released late Friday night, FBI wiretaps picked up phone conversations between Miller and Christian Dawkins, an employee for ASM Sports agent Andy Miller, discussing paying top recruit and current freshman star DeAndre Ayton $100,000 to make sure he would attend Arizona. Sean Miller told Dawkins to deal directly with him when it came to money for players, the report said.
Ayton played against the Ducks on Saturday, scoring 28 points to go with 18 rebounds and four blocks.
Dawkins was one of 10 people arrested on Sept. 26 as part of the FBI’s wide-ranging investigation into corruption in college basketball.
One of Sean’s Miller’s assistants, Emmanuel “Book” Richardson, was also one of the 10 men arrested on Sept. 26 by the FBI on federal bribery, fraud, and other corruption charges.
Pitino, the Hall of Fame former Louisville coach, lost his job after the school was linked to the investigation, accused of having a role in funneling $100,000 to the family of prospect Brian Bowen so he would sign with the Cardinals. Under Pitino’s watch, Louisville was also the focus of an NCAA investigation into allegations that Andre McGee, a former staff member in the program, set up players and recruits with strippers and hookers on campus from 2010-14.
Richardson, a Bronx native who coached with Miller at Xavier and Arizona from 2007-17, was fired on Jan. 11. Arizona stood behind the 49-year-old Miller at the time. But this latest issue has obviously complicated matters regarding the ninth-year coach, who is owed roughly $10.3 million through May 2022.
“I believe it is in the best interest of our team that I not coach the game tonight,” Miller said in the statement. “I continue to fully support the University’s efforts to fully investigate this matter and am confident that I will be vindicated. For now, my thoughts are with our team. They are a great group of young men that will support each other and continue their pursuit of winning a Pac-12 championship.”
A projected top three draft pick, the 7-foot-1 Ayton’s status remains unchanged. He’s eligible to play for the Wildcats. NCAA president Mark Emmert said on CBS Sports the decisions about Ayton and Sean Miller are up to Arizona, and there has been no NCAA investigation launched into the school as of yet. Emmert also said he hopes there will be “systemic changes” in place by next year for the sport, though he didn’t elaborate on what those could be.
Ayton was one of many big names caught up in the investigation following a Yahoo Sports report on Friday in which the website obtained documents from Miller’s office the FBI recovered in a raid of his agency’s office. Duke’s Wendell Carter, Michigan State’s Miles Bridges and Kentucky’s Kevin Knox have all been cleared by their schools to continue playing despite being named in documents detailing illegal loans and payments from Dawkins and Andy Miller.
In a statement to ESPN, Ayton’s lawyer said he was interviewed by the FBI six months ago, and Ayton told them he never sought money to attend Arizona, and picked the school because of his family’s ties in Phoenix and his familiarity with the program. In the statement, Ayton’s attorney also said his parents and family are “outraged and disgusted” by the reports they claim are false.
Shortly after the Sean Miller news broke, one of his top recruits, four-star forward Shareef O’Neal, announced he was opening his recruitment. The son of Shaquille O’Neal, he is ranked as the No. 33 player in the nation in 247Sports.com’s composite rankings.
Bucks guard and former Arizona star Jason Terry called for Sean Miller’s firing on Twitter shortly after the ESPN report, writing to the team’s official Twitter account: “@APlayersProgram BearDown it’s time to clean house and bring home our own bloodlines to carry on Lutes Legacy. We have too much pride, too much tradition to allow outsiders to tear down what we built.”