Miller once again does it again!

[Russ Smith]

Well, the other possibility that seems to not be mentioned or occurring to anyone is that Miller may have been snagged but is cooperating with the FBI investigation in exchange for not being prosecuted himself... a very common practice in these kind of large scale stings. That would explain how he may have turned up on the wiretap, but hasn't been arrested and is (along with the university) playing the whole thing close to the vest since.

And while that would preserve him from criminal prosecution, it doesn't ultimately mean good things for his future as a college coach, nor the program's fortunes under an NCAA investigation.

Again, not saying it is likely... just a possible speculation, like everyone else seems to be making.

It's been tossed out but I haven't seen it directly to the Ayton allegations but to earlier claims that the reason Miller "backed off" recruits like Bowen and Lonnie Walker is he'd been tipped off what Book was doing. The problem is Walker committed in Nov 2016 which was before Book was doing it according to the FBI stories.

Bowen has said under oath he was going to ARizona if Trier or Alkins went pro, they didn't so he dropped them. He didn't know his dad was negotiating money. and he did that under oath.

FWIW, the outside counsel for UA has admitted that Ayton has not said anything under oath to the FBI, he says it doesn't matter you still can't lie to them under oath or not, but it was very intentionally said that way because the way his family worded their statement implied he'd gone under oath to the FBI.

The 6 months thing if you count back it's August, the FBI story I think originally broke the last week of Sept. To me that's a consistent timeline, they already had the wiretap, they talked to Ayton presumably because they wanted to confirm if money changed hands because if it did, it was against the law.


Also remember, ayton barely cleared in time for the trip to Spain, he was one of if not the last high profile recruit to clear NCAA amateurism checks. That was in August, given the timing it's pretty confusing to me how he got interviewed by the FBI, the pac 12 and the NCAA, but a month later the NCAA says they were completely unaware of this big probe. So I wonder if they had told the NCAA about the wiretap or if the NCAA and Pac 12 stuff was totally independent of the FBI. That is NCAA and Pac 12 are doing the same clearance they do on all freshmen, his took longer, but concurrently he was talking to the FBI and maybe Arizona, the Pac 12 and the NCAA didn't know because he was told not to tell?

No idea.

 

[overseascardfan]

It makes sense to keep playing Ayton, if he took money the season is forfeited as soon as he stepped on the floor for the first game. So UA has nothing to lose with him playing now. I assume lawyers are getting the legal paperwork done so Miller doesn't collect more than he should when the inevitable firing comes. As many posted, he isn't going to survive this even if he is cleared in the long run as there is too much damage done to overcome. Now, UA has to target their next coach, IMO keep Romar because no coach is going to come in if UA gets hit with sanctions that will restrict recruiting and postseason play. At least with Romar you have a guy who can recruit, he may not get big time guys but he might convince a kid or to to play for him until you can get that next big HC once sanctions are lifted.

I wonder how Lute feels about all this? You'd figure he'd have weighed in by now on this mess.

 

[ozzfloyd]

https://247sports.com/Article/Sourc...tar-DeAndre-Ayton-coach-Sean-Miller-115594868

Sources cast doubt on reported timeline of Miller-Dawkins call
The timeline and nature of ESPN's bombshell Arizona report don't add up, according to multiple sources.

 

[TJ]

https://247sports.com/Article/Sourc...tar-DeAndre-Ayton-coach-Sean-Miller-115594868

Sources cast doubt on reported timeline of Miller-Dawkins call
The timeline and nature of ESPN's bombshell Arizona report don't add up, according to multiple sources.

Now this is a ballsy response by 247/CBS.

 

[GatorAZ]

If they never spoke in 2016, and Ayton was already signed in 2017, I would wonder if Ayton was having thoughts of going overseas early in the summer since he wasn’t cleared yet and Miller was trying to keep him here.

Even then...

Further twisting the plot is that Dawkins has never been associated — to anyone’s knowledge — with Ayton. Ayton has had mentors/handlers involved in his process at different stages of his basketball career, but Dawkins has never been one of them.

 

[Russ Smith]

If they never spoke in 2016, and Ayton was already signed in 2017, I would wonder if Ayton was having thoughts of going overseas early in the summer since he wasn’t cleared yet and Miller was trying to keep him here.

Even then...

Further twisting the plot is that Dawkins has never been associated — to anyone’s knowledge — with Ayton. Ayton has had mentors/handlers involved in his process at different stages of his basketball career, but Dawkins has never been one of them.

That was my earlier supposition, if it was 2017, Miller simply could have been saying he has to get that 100K soon or he's not going to wait until he clears.

But once ESPN corrected it to 2016 that went out the window unless ESPN is just getting incorrect info on what year.

The FBI has been on this one since 2014 but I have no idea how long they've been wiretapping Dawkins.

The part about Dawkins not being the right guy came from the CBS podcast, where even those guys admitted the idea Ayton got paid to go to Arizona surprised nobody, they just doubted Dawkins was the right guy to make it happen. But if they were just trying to get 100K, Andy Miller WOULD be the right guy and that's who was bankrolling Dawkins.

ESPN continues to insist it was 2016 so it will be interesting to watch.

I think it would really help explain much of this story if we knew for sure if the FBI really raided Millers house when the original story broke in Sept. If they did, this ESPN story is MUCH easier to believe.

 

[Raindog]

Apparently, the latest developments are A) that the UA president was allowed to review the FBI recording or transcript over the weekend, and B) the Az Board of Regents is meeting tomorrow. So it sounds like there may be some kind of official statement or announcement maybe by tomorrow.

Make of that all what you will.

 

[TJ]

Apparently, the latest developments are A) that the UA president was allowed to review the FBI recording or transcript over the weekend, and B) the Az Board of Regents is meeting tomorrow. So it sounds like there may be some kind of official statement or announcement maybe by tomorrow.

Make of that all what you will.

Where did you hear about Robbins and the recordings? Unless I missed something, those are sealed.

 

[GatorAZ]

It’s probably in the best interest of both sides to move on after the season but right now doesn’t seem like good timing. Besides I don’t want Romar coaching this team in the tournament.

 

[Raindog]

Where did you hear about Robbins and the recordings? Unless I missed something, those are sealed.

Hanson column at Tucson.com.

 

[Raindog]

Hanson column at Tucson.com.

Sorry... misread what Hanson had written. He said "if" Robbins had unexpectedly been allowed to review the transcript... I missed the conditional term in the sentence.

 

[Dback Jon]

So Romar who's on the Yahoo spreadsheet as having paid Fultz is interim coach?

 

[TJ]

So Romar who's on the Yahoo spreadsheet as having paid Fultz is interim coach?

Doesn’t say explicitly that he was paid by Romar, but rather by ASM.

 

[Russ Smith]

There's an article out now speculating on how the story got leaked and the lawyer they talk to in the story, claims it's most likely(as has been guessed) one of the other defendants in the case. They get access to tapes and transcripts so they can use it in their own defense. She is of course an arizona fan and then goes on a rant about how it's obviously someone is out to get arizona and released it now to mess with them before the tournament.

What she didn't say but that seems obvious is the most likely person in that situation to do this, is Book Richardson. He has been the ace recruiter for a long time, everyone who knows anything about college basketball knows that means he's not clean. ARizona changed their recruiting focus in recent years to get more national kids and more "risky" kids. Simmons, Ferguson, Alkins etc there's no way the head coach sees his ace recruiter getting those kids and doesn't know something is going on.

But when the FBI story breaks, there's no defense at all for Book, the school leaks out he's a rogue coach, we didn't know, Miller didn't know. That's why for months everyone else has been speculating Book was going to roll over on Arizona to the FBI. So maybe Book just got fed up with waiting and he or his agent or lawyer just leaked this?

There's no other defendant in the case that makes sense having a grudge against Arizona.

 

[ozzfloyd]

xc_hide_links_from_guests_guests_error_hide_media

 

[Russ Smith]

xc_hide_links_from_guests_guests_error_hide_media

Forde works for Yahoo now he's referring to the documents Yahoo saw, the spreadsheets etc.They haven't as far as we know had any access to any wiretap information.

 

[ozzfloyd]

^neither has ESPN...

 

[MaoTosiFanClub]

This would be the all time sports journalistic screw up if ESPN got this wrong.

Definitely an interesting story to watch. Has there been anyone but AZ media questioning this so far or are they just playing the role of Fox News state run media at this point?

College basketball writers from CBS, Yahoo, Fox Sports, and Ringer have all publicly questioned the report's details and even ESPN walked back the timing aspect of it. The report could be right or it could be wrong, the only people who probably know for sure are those involved with the case.

It's basically shaking out exactly like the Mike Leach - Texas Tech thing. Even if the story is false he'll probably be fired because it would take years to be vindicated and the program would suffer tremendously during that time.

 

[ozzfloyd]

https://www.theringer.com/platform/...reports-sean-miller?__twitter_impression=true

 

[SO91]

Forde works for Yahoo now he's referring to the documents Yahoo saw, the spreadsheets etc.They haven't as far as we know had any access to any wiretap information.

Neither has the guy who wrote for ESPN. The author has 1 source. You suggest it's Book. The one I've seen suggested is Dawkins (or his attorney)

 

[TJ]

Neither has the guy who wrote for ESPN. The author has 1 source. You suggest it's Book. The one I've seen suggested is Dawkins (or his attorney)

It’s not Book

 

[Russ Smith]

^neither has ESPN...

Right but Forde saying on ESPN radio he has seen no evidence against Miller doesn't in any way mean what ESPN reported is being walked back because Forde doesn't work for ESPN and hasn't seen it.

He has reported, with Thamel, that Book and Pasternack were offering Alkins and Lauri to Dawkins as future clients to help get Brian Bowen, which was probably the most salacious detail against Arizona until the ESPN Miller story hit

 

[Russ Smith]

Neither has the guy who wrote for ESPN. The author has 1 source. You suggest it's Book. The one I've seen suggested is Dawkins (or his attorney)

People keep saying that, ESPN never once said they had seen or heard it. That's been open since the original story broke. the Ringer story is just like the others, it questions the ESPN one because it's not sourced, and then as evidence it may be wrong it cites a 247 story that says "sources tell us the wiretaps were during these dates". How is that any more sourced than what ESPN said, they're both citing an unnamed source. And, both can be right, again the FBI has been on this case since 2014, we have no idea how long they've been wiretapping Dawkins.

The people suggesting Dawkins or his attorney almost all happen to be arizona fans or arizona sites because it fits the narrative that someone is out to get Arizona and now it's Dawkins. The ones suggesting Book are merely making the point, also made in the Ringer story, that's it's most likely someone connected to one of the defendants.

Anybody leaking stuff from a sealed case puts themselves in big risk, Dawkins right now appears to be the guy in the most trouble here he's been indicted on way more stuff than what Book has. I doubt either one of them is leaking directly because presumably they're both in some sort of custody. But human nature suggests the person leaking the news on Miller, true or not, probably has a personal reason for it and Book is the more obvious one because he has been thrown under the bus here. Dawkins doesn't seem to have an obvious reason to try and get Sean Miller, Book does.

I don't know who it is but of those 2, Book seems more logical.

 

[SO91]

People keep saying that, ESPN never once said they had seen or heard it. That's been open since the original story broke. the Ringer story is just like the others, it questions the ESPN one because it's not sourced, and then as evidence it may be wrong it cites a 247 story that says "sources tell us the wiretaps were during these dates". How is that any more sourced than what ESPN said, they're both citing an unnamed source. And, both can be right, again the FBI has been on this case since 2014, we have no idea how long they've been wiretapping Dawkins.

The people suggesting Dawkins or his attorney almost all happen to be arizona fans or arizona sites because it fits the narrative that someone is out to get Arizona and now it's Dawkins. The ones suggesting Book are merely making the point, also made in the Ringer story, that's it's most likely someone connected to one of the defendants.

Anybody leaking stuff from a sealed case puts themselves in big risk, Dawkins right now appears to be the guy in the most trouble here he's been indicted on way more stuff than what Book has. I doubt either one of them is leaking directly because presumably they're both in some sort of custody. But human nature suggests the person leaking the news on Miller, true or not, probably has a personal reason for it and Book is the more obvious one because he has been thrown under the bus here. Dawkins doesn't seem to have an obvious reason to try and get Sean Miller, Book does.

I don't know who it is but of those 2, Book seems more logical.

I brought it up in response to your point that Forde, or Yahoo, haven't heard a tape or seen a transcript. That matters to establish credibility of the massive claims being made by ESPN and the author of that report, IMO. I think it's safe to assume the leak is a defendant and/or an attorney representing them. Without hearing a tape, or seeing a transcript, the writer has to have incredible confidence in his source, as I'm not sure how you vet info like that. If what's alleged is true, then Sean Miller is guilty of exactly what Book is charged with. It makes me question why they didn't arrest the head coach of a top 10 program and made headlines.

I don't know if the feds would have multiple taps on Dawkins at different times, but the info released in that motion to suppress from Dawkins attorneys state THAT wire tap began on April 7th, 2017, and the information gathered from that wire tap was used to grant additional intercepts through Sept 2017.

 

[Russ Smith]

I brought it up in response to your point that Forde, or Yahoo, haven't heard a tape or seen a transcript. That matters to establish credibility of the massive claims being made by ESPN and the author of that report, IMO. I think it's safe to assume the leak is a defendant and/or an attorney representing them. Without hearing a tape, or seeing a transcript, the writer has to have incredible confidence in his source, as I'm not sure how you vet info like that. If what's alleged is true, then Sean Miller is guilty of exactly what Book is charged with. It makes me question why they didn't arrest the head coach of a top 10 program and made headlines.

I don't know if the feds would have multiple taps on Dawkins at different times, but the info released in that motion to suppress from Dawkins attorneys state THAT wire tap began on April 7th, 2017, and the information gathered from that wire tap was used to grant additional intercepts through Sept 2017.

Right and we now know where that came from because its' been made public, it wasn't made public in the story citing sources. In the ESPN case the source ultimately is leaking a sealed document(info from it) so it makes perfect sense the source is not being named, the source is violating a sealed FBI order(whatever they call it).

Miller could very well be innocent.

He could be guilty of exactly what ESPN said.

It can even work out with the revised dates ESPN said as I said before. Ayton cleared VERY late, just one year earlier Miller lost one of his best recruits because Ferguson got tired of waiting to clear and went to Australia. Maybe Miller decided I don't want to lose Ayton that way too so he negotiated a way to make sure he didn't bolt, making sure he got the 100K or was promised it at a future date, as a means to keep ayton from just going pro?

Any of those make sense. We'll eventually get the truth.

It's being reported now that Arizona met with Miller today but nobody seems to know why, to clear him, to negotiate his exit etc.

I agree it's odd that they didn't arrest Miller if they have him on tape, that's always been odd but if they really raided his house, the story becomes pretty easy to believe