An explosive report by ESPN late Friday evening claims that an FBI wiretap caught Arizona head basketball coach Sean Miller discussing paying then recruit DeAndre Ayton $100,000 to commit to the program.
The report itself is about as shocking as it gets.
“According to people with knowledge of the FBI investigation, Miller and Dawkins, a runner working for ASM Sports agent Andy Miller, had multiple conversations about Ayton. When Dawkins asked Sean Miller if he should work with assistant coach Emanuel “Book” Richardson to finalize their agreement, Miller told Dawkins he should deal directly with him when it came to money, the sources said,” ESPN’s Mark Schlabach reported.
It now looks like this most-recent report will force Miller from coaching the Wildcats — at least for now. Miller has apparently informed his players that he will not be on the bench for Saturday’s game against Oregon.
Arizona's Sean Miller has informed his players that he will not coach tonight at Oregon, source told ESPN.
— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) February 24, 2018
At this point, that’s probably the least of Miller’s worries.
It’s too early to tell whether Miller will be fired for cause. But it seems to be headed in that direction. His absence for Saturday night’s game is the latest example of this.