Arizona coach Sean Miller will reportedly remain with the program after denying reports that he had a phone conversation in which he discussed giving $100,000 to prized recruit and current Wildcats freshman Deandre Ayton.
Miller’s status is not yet set in stone, but according to Yahoo Sports, he has the support of school president Robert Robbins, and will likely finish the remainder of the season pending any other developments with the joint FBI and Department of Justice investigation into corruption in college basketball.
On Thursday, Miller denied the ESPN report which alleged that he and former ASM Sports employee Christian Dawkins discussed bribing Ayton in exchange for his commitment to the school, saying he never paid any player or any player’s family to attend Arizona.
Sean Miller (left) denied having discussions about giving $100,000 to Deandre Ayton (right)
‘I have never knowingly violated NCAA rules while serving as head coach of this great program,’ Miller said Thursday, adding that the ESPN report was ‘inaccurate, false and defamatory.’
Miller did acknowledge that he a conversation with someone soliciting money in exchange for a particular player’s commitment to Arizona, but Miller refused to name that person, the player in question, and insists that he never proceeded with any such transactin.
‘I did not agree to it,’ Miller said. ‘It never happened and that player did not come to the University of Arizona.’
Miller did not coach Saturday’s game against Oregon in the immediate aftermath of the report. Since then, he met with school administrators on Monday to discuss his future with the school, according to 247 Sports, and on Thursday the University’s regents held a special meeting to discuss his contract.
Prior to Saturday’s game, Miller released a statement saying he was ‘confident that (he would) be vindicated.’
According to ESPN’s report on Friday, Miller had several conversations with Dawkins about securing the payment for Ayton. Miller reportedly told Dawkins he would handle the transaction personally, rather than having Dawkins go through assistant coach Emanuel ‘Book’ Richardson, who was later arrested as part of the FBI and Department of Justice’s ongoing investigation into corruption within college basketball recruiting.
Richardson pleaded not guilty to taking bribes in exchange for pushing recruits to retain the services of particular agents and financial advisors.
Dawkins, too, was arrested as part of that investigation. He pleaded not guilty to counts including bribery conspiracy, honest services fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering conspiracy.
Christian Dawkins, a former ASM Sports agent, exits the Manhattan Federal Courthouse, after being arrested for bribery and fraud in connection with college basketball recruiting