University of Arizona men's basketball coach Sean Miller will be on the sidelines for tonight's game against Stanford and he intends to coach the Wildcats for the foreseeable future. During a press conference this afternoon, Miller blasted an ESPN report that surfaced last week, which claimed that he was caught on wiretaps discussing a payment of $100,000 to Arizona's star freshman, DeAndre Ayton.
According to CBS Sports, Miller said he has never even spoken to Christian Dawkins, the person who has been charged in the FBI's case of bribery, conspiracy and fraud in college basketball.
"I have never paid a recruit or prospect or their family or representative to come to Arizona," Miller said. "I never have and I never will. I have never arranged or directed payment or any improper benefits to a recruit or prospect or their family or representative, and I never will."
"Let me be very, very clear: I have never discussed with Christian Dawkins paying Deandre Ayton to attend the University of Arizona," Miller said. "In fact, I never even met or spoke to Christian Dawkins until after Deandre publicly announced that he was coming to our school. Any reporting to the contrary is inaccurate, false and defamatory. I'm outraged by the media statements that have been made and the acceptance by many that these statements were true. There was no such conversation."
He admitted to being approached about paying a player to attend the University of Arizona, but says he never agreed to it and the player went to another school.
"I also want you to know the one time someone suggested to me paying a player to come to the University of Arizona, I never agreed to it," Miller said. "It never happened and that player never came to Arizona."
Miller missed Saturday's game in Oregon, which Arizona lost 98-93, but he will be coaching the Wildcats tonight at home, as well as Saturday night's game against Cal. He will continue to coach the Wildcats, 22-7, into the Pac-12 Tournament and on throughout the NCAA Tournament.
https://twitter.com/_/status/969295527157235712
