📡 FBI Wiretaps Show Arizona's Sean Miller Discussed $100K Payment for Ayton's Commitment

[#80]

I did watch it and yes I’m that game with Ayton he was a man among boys and their bench had nothing, but my point is without him being in that game at all Zona’s entire gameplan is different, so there’s still no guarantee Bama wins. Plus Bama has shown they play down to teams

If their bench had nothing how were they going to make up for Ayton's 29 ? I rest my case.

 

[TUSKtimes]

His career will be over if it’s all true.

Bilas and Dick V are a lot of things, but nonsensical isn’t one of them. Those two have forgotten more about college hoops than most people will ever know.

Every school has paid players every school!! If Zona, UNC, etc pay then there’s no doubt schools like Bama, Auburn, Gonzaga, etc have paid and I’d be willing to bet schools like Wyoming, Montana, North Dakota, etc have paid

What we're discussing has little to do with Xs and Os and the last thing I would suppose is that Bilas has a tighter grip on integrity than anyone else. I was specific, it's "nonsensical" to defend someone, anyone, publically because you happen to know them the last 20 years. That would especially be true if you also know the FBI has said coach on a wiretap arranging a $100,000 payment.

Thus the term "nonsensical."

 

[planomateo]

Reportedly fired. ESPN goofed reporting Sean Miller as being fired.

AD Byrne needs to have a bit of a retrospective on a few things that happened at Arizona.

 

[Tidestalker]

Reportedly fired.

AD Byrne needs to have a bit of a retrospective on a few things that happened at Arizona.

TMZSPN just rescinded that report... SMH. Just out for the night now according to them

 

[ElephantStomp]

If their bench had nothing how were they going to make up for Ayton's 29 ? I rest my case.

Again I’ll say we don’t know how Bama would’ve played. If we rewind to that exact game sure Bama wins because you eliminate 29 points, but Zona would’ve known well ahead of time that Ayton wouldn’t have been playing, so they’re would’ve been a completely different gameplan.

 

[ElephantStomp]

What we're discussing has little to do with Xs and Os and the last thing I would suppose is that Bilas has a tighter grip on integrity than anyone else. I was specific, it's "nonsensical" to defend someone, anyone, publically because you happen to know them the last 20 years. That would especially be true if you also know the FBI has said coach on a wiretap arranging a $100,000 payment.

Thus the term "nonsensical."

Nobody knows for sure what is on that wiretap. “Sources” said he was on the tape, but the media and their “sources” are no sure thing because this same media and their “sources” said Saban was interested in the Texas opening, but Saban said he didn’t and wasn’t looking to leave.

Friends defend friends unless proven otherwise or at least that’s how I was raised

 

[#80]

Again I’ll say we don’t know how Bama would’ve played. If we rewind to that exact game sure Bama wins because you eliminate 29 points, but Zona would’ve known well ahead of time that Ayton wouldn’t have been playing, so they’re would’ve been a completely different gameplan.

You don't know but I do.

 

[ElephantStomp]

You don't know but I do.

Well the team that played tonight wouldn’t have bean Zona with or without him and that’s a guarantee

 

[TerryP]

Nobody knows for sure what is on that wiretap. “Sources” said he was on the tape, but the media and their “sources” are no sure thing because this same media and their “sources” said Saban was interested in the Texas opening, but Saban said he didn’t and wasn’t looking to leave.

Friends defend friends unless proven otherwise or at least that’s how I was raised

Hang on a second here, stomp. You're asserting "nobody knows for sure what is on that wiretap" while we've got this:

Documents and bank records obtained in discovery during the federal investigation into the underbelly of college basketball detail in meticulous fashion the expenditures of prominent former NBA agent Andy Miller, his former associate Christian Dawkins and his agency, ASM Sports. They include expense reports and balance sheets that list cash advances, as well as entertainment and travel expenses for high school and college prospects and their families.​

​

Yahoo Sports viewed hundreds of pages of documents from the years-long probe that had federal authorities monitoring multiple targets and intercepting more than 4,000 calls across 330 days, providing a clear-eyed view into the pervasive nature of the game’s underground economy.​

Schlabach used the word "sources." Thamel and Forde "viewed" the documents. There's two people at the core of this story who've seen the evidence. They aren't quoting "sources." They're citing what they've read, personally.

It's not the same "sources." You have a great point about stories being vetted to see who, or what, is at the root of these reports. But, and this is an important "but," the Texas "sources" you're referring to here are Texas beat writers citing themselves. It's been six plus years since all that Texas talk happened but as I recall--and I recall this fairly well in my opinion--there was an afternoon, drive-time radio show out of Austin that first "broke" that story. It was one of the Texas beat writers own show. Soon after the show ended he, the same writer mind you, posted a tweet stating "ESPN was reporting..." It was an affiliate of ESPN's radio network. It wasn't ESPN reporting. It was a Texas guy reporting that he'd reported but put it off as in it was coming from ESPN.

Two completely different scenarios.

And that's not even bringing in the fact the FBI has arrested people in regard to this story. Those arrests aren't based on "sources" (even though the tip came from a guy they'd flipped.)

 

[TerryP]

A point I came across on Twitter yesterday...it's one that's crossed my mind these last few days but he voices it here:

 

[planomateo]

Jay Bilas may be getting the last laugh on this.

 

[BamaFan334]

Glad the Michigan State kid paid back the $40. He's learned his lesson. Good lord, can we have a$1,000 minimum here or something so it doesn't look as stupid as it actually is when I read that? And I'm one that doesn't feel kids should get paid outside of their scholarships, but $40 freaking dollars is just ridiculous.

 

[Destiny's Child]

You should never make a decision until all the facts are out. We now know the court of public opinion in skewed by the left and the millennial cry babies.

I am not saying Sean isn't guilty, my boys play AAU basketball, I have seen the corruption first hand but if you go off of emotion and half truths you can quickly make a decision to fire a great basketball coach and ruin a man's career for something that maybe different from the way the media and the left interpret things. Let all the facts come out and make a decision based on the truth.

I think he is a great basketball coach and forgivinig him of his issues maybe a way to keep him around forever and doing it the right way. Trust me if he is getting players funneled his way from the shoe guys involved in AAU then he is one of 200 that is doing so.

I think Bruce Pearl's is more damning even though it was less in the eyes of the media. He has already been black balled by the coaches for being unethical and then fired two other times for major NCAA violations... if anyone in the world should be trying to be squeaky clean.. it's him and what does he do.. he finds himself in the middle of an FBI investigation. Don't think Chuck Pearsons won't roll over on him.. Pearl definitely knew what was going on and chose to play dumb. Again, a great coach and he has done a great job for the Boogs this year but he will have a cloud that follows him wherever he goes or stays and Auburn doesn't want the NCAA snooping around all the time.. too many skeletons in the closet you know.

This is a first offense for Sean and an everytime offense for Pearl.

 

[ElephantStomp]

Hmmm Jay might be right after all

 

[Tidestalker]

TMZSPN standing by their report from an unnamed source... This could get fun

 

[TerryP]

TMZSPN just rescinded that report... SMH. Just out for the night now according to them

"Just out for the night according to them?"

The error was made in a game that didn't involve Arizona. It was made by a color-commentator in the AZ St. versus Oregon St. when the commentator said he'd been relieved of his duties.

ESPN reported, and here's the quote, “We apologize for the regrettable error. The information was not properly vetted via our news and reporting standards, and the production team worked quickly to correct the mistake.”

I'm lost trying to find the "out for the night." I'm not lost when I read this:

Via USA TODAY Sports:

“I believe it is in the best interest of our team that I not coach the game tonight,” Miller said in a statement. “I continue to fully support the University’s efforts to fully investigate this matter and am confident that I will be vindicated.”​

He sat a night because all of this isn't accurate? To me, that flies in the face of simple logic if we're being asked to assume there's nothing to see there.

TMZSPN standing by their report from an unnamed source... This could get fun

Am I reading this right? It reads as if you're choosing to believe Miller here--versus ESPN--just because it's an "unnamed source?"

I'm seeing an assistant coach in the custody of the FBI. I"m seeing a player who just served another suspension for failing a drug test. I'm seeing a program that's not arguable out of control, but IS out of control.

What really deserves angest from collegiate basketball fans is this quote from an article on Deadspin:

Since the report came out, Miller’s been suspended from team activities, both practices and games, while the school looks into the matter; Ayton, meanwhile, has stayed with the team, and put up 28 points and 18 boards in a Saturday loss to unranked Oregon. The rest of the college sports realm has largely reacted the same way it has to every development of this case—some decried the backdoor payments as a direct act against God and bemoaned their black mark on a pure game; other, more reasonable people kept calling out the NCAA for being the corrupt institution that forces coaches and athletes to work out these deals with seedy characters in an unregulated black market. Miller, meanwhile, has receded from public life, while pundits discuss his actions as being “career-ending.”​

​

"...that forces coaches and athletes to work out these deals with seedy characters." Forces?
"...backdoor payments as a direct act against God and bemoaned their black mark on a pure game?" A pure game? We've known that NOT to be true for years.

Is it possible that ESPN has been forced into the role of protagonist in this story simply because a lot don't care for some of their commentary on social issues? If so, I suppose I can wrap my mind around that: but only momentarily.

The elephant, or two elephants, in the room here are Forde and Thamel--both of whom are reporting things very similar to Schlabach and more importantly have viewed documents substantiating their stories.

 

[TUSKtimes]

The rest of the college sports realm has largely reacted the same way it has to every development of this case—some decried the backdoor payments as a direct act against God and bemoaned their black mark on a pure game; other, more reasonable people kept calling out the NCAA for being the corrupt institution that forces coaches and athletes to work out these deals with seedy characters in an unregulated black market. Miller, meanwhile, has receded from public life, while pundits discuss his actions as being “career-ending.”​

​

That seems a little too black and white even for me. I'm no expert on what the silent majority really think of scandals like this but I try to give fans credit for at least understanding that recruiting has always been on the shady side of doing business. I could be wrong. When guys like Huge Freeze push the envelope too far they occasionally get slapped down by Big Brother.

I do think what's unique about this situation in basketball are all the entities involved with their hand out trying to cash in on these recruits. It's as blatant as a Hugh Freeze denial and needs some quick changes to get these middlemen's hands off these cash cows. The real issue here is sneakers and one-year wonders. At this point, all I want to know is what Big Brother plans on doing about it?

 

[alagator]

I do think what's unique about this situation in basketball are all the entities involved with their hand out trying to cash in on these recruits. It's as blatant as a Hugh Freeze denial and needs some quick changes to get these middlemen's hands off these cash cows. The real issue here is sneakers and one-year wonders. At this point, all I want to know is what Big Brother plans on doing about it?

This issue is sneakers? Why am I reminded of seeing "a rifle killed all those students?" The sneaker deals that have worked their way in are a by-product of people wanting a slice of the pie whether they be players, parents, kin-folk, handlers, and others of that ilk. While the FBI is painting these to be victims right now we know that's not the case with every one of them.

I realize you've had a lot of dealings with AAU basketball and that very well may skew your opinion some. It's very telling that we're watching a former AAU Director in the middle of all of this.

 

[TUSKtimes]

This issue is sneakers? Why am I reminded of seeing "a rifle killed all those students?" The sneaker deals that have worked their way in are a by-product of people wanting a slice of the pie whether they be players, parents, kin-folk, handlers, and others of that ilk. While the FBI is painting these to be victims right now we know that's not the case with every one of them.

I realize you've had a lot of dealings with AAU basketball and that very well may skew your opinion some. It's very telling that we're watching a former AAU Director in the middle of all of this.

A metaphor for big business. The one-year wonders also bring with it, greedy parents, agents, handlers, coaches. Unless otherwise noted it might be difficult to tell where one starts and the other picks up. Doesn't matter, it's always about selfish people.