Arizona Basketball: Reinforcements coming for Wildcats in 2019-20 season
The Arizona Wildcats have gone through a lot on-and-off the court this year. The good news is that Cats will likely be back real soon as help is on the way next season.
This past year hasn’t been the easiest for coach Sean Miller and the Arizona Wildcats. It all started when the Cats were stunningly upset in the second round of the NCAA Tournament by the Buffalo Bulls. Not that the Bulls weren’t an excellent team, but the Cats expected to contend for a national title.
Miller has been dealing with a cloud over his head ever since the FBI arrested former assistant Book Richardson in a corruption and bribery scheme. Richardson, who pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bribery on Jan. 22, was accused of accepting $20,000 in bribes and using that money to entice a recruit to attend Arizona.
Now, Arizona is one of the schools under formal NCAA inquiry following the FBI’s investigation into college basketball corruption, according to a Yahoo Sports report. The report noted there is “a confluence of complications that cast a shroud over Miller’s future” as a result. The issues begin with the upcoming trial of Christian Dawkins, the former agency employee who claimed deep ties to the Arizona program. There’s also potential NCAA fallout from the recent felony plea in federal court by Richardson.
Dawkins, who has already been found guilty in the first federal basketball corruption trial, is slated to be back in court in April. And there’s a strong expectation that Miller will be subpoenaed to testify.
Miller and Richardson were reportedly in constant contact with Dawkins, meaning that a wiretap of the conversations between the trio could be played during the trial. Dawkins famously once boasted he attended Arizona practices “like I’m on the team.”
Miller denied all wrongdoing following ESPN’s report of him being captured on the wiretap of discussing a $100,000 payment to then-recruit DeAndre Ayton.
Even more bad news for Miller, per Alec Hendon of Cronkite News, the Arizona Board of Regents added “legal advice and discussion regarding Arizona men’s basketball” to its agenda this past Thursday.
In addition, Hendon reported that the Wildcats also had begun the process of terminating assistant coach Mark Phelps after he was allegedly caught helping a recruit improve his transcripts. Phelps, who has been administrative leave, joined Miller’s staff in June 2015.
On a positive note, Miller continues to receive support from UA athletic director Dave Heeke and president Robert C. Robbins.
Back to the on-court stuff. Arizona has been a major disappointment thus far this year. It was expected to be an unusually harsh year for the Wildcats as they lost a lot from last season with seven players having departed, including three players who are currently playing in the NBA (Ayton and Allonzo Trier) or the G-League (Rawle Alkins), but nobody expected it to be this taxing.
The Wildcats (14-10, 5-6 conference) are the track to post the fewest number of wins under Miller since his inaugural season in Tucson in 2009-10.