Miller: Media Narrative about Arizona Paying Players Debunked by NOA

One Level I violation involving Book Richardson had not been previously reported

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Posted on March 5, 2021


  By Dane Miller, SuperWest Sports

The media narrative that Arizona paid players to play basketball in Tucson has been debunked by the school’s release of the Notice of Allegations.

Other than a $500 loan from former assistant coach Mark Phelps to Keanu Pinder for a flight back to Australia, which was paid back by Pinder, there is not a single allegation in the NOA that any Arizona player received money to attend the school.

However, there does appear to be a significant Level I violation that was not previously reported. Specifically, the NCAA is alleging that Book Richardson arranged for false academic transcripts and false credits for a player that committed to play for UA, and that player actually enrolled at the school and competed in the 2017-18 season.

The NOA does state that Richardson paid $40,000 to obtain the fraudulent credit and/or false academic transcript, but nowhere in the 22-page Notice of Allegations is there any language insinuating or hinting that an Arizona player received money to don the Wildcat uniform.

Former Arizona Coach Book Richardson | Getty Images

Such allegations from the NCAA are in stark contrast to the reporting by ESPN and Yahoo that alleged Sean Miller paid Deandre Ayton $100,000 to attend the school, or the false claims that Book Richardson paid prospects to attend the University of Arizona.

Over the past four years, such libelous and defamatory claims have created a narrative that the UA basketball program pays players under the table to attend the school, and that Sean Miller himself is the kingpin of the scheme.

The narrative surrounding the program has substantially damaged its ability to recruit five-star one-and-done prospects, arguably resulting in missed NCAA Tournaments or defeats in the first round.

Still, there are significant violations alleged in the Notice.

Most of them involve the conduct of Richardson and Phelps, but there is a direct allegation against Sean Miller for “negligently disregarding” the actions of his assistants. There is also an allegation against the school itself for lack of institution control. The Notice pointed to high turnover in the Compliance Department, which hindered the identification of violations and contributed to the failure to identity red-flags.

It’s also noteworthy that a handful of the allegations involve the UA swim and dive teams.

The NCAA also alleges the athletic department compromised the integrity of the investigation and failed to cooperate, including by failing to provide the findings of an external investigation conducted by a firm hired by the program, and conducting an unrecorded interview of Richardson in 2019.

The allegations against Miller revolve around failing to adequately monitor his assistants and failing to promote an environment of compliance. Most of the allegations against his assistants relate to fraudulent academic transcripts, and only Richardson is alleged to have received the bribes amounting to $20,000 that were the subject of the FBI investigation.

The fraudulent transcripts appear to be for a player who played during the 2017-18 season, which if proven, would likely result in the vacation of Arizona’s wins during that season, including it’s Pac-12 Regular Season and Tournament championships.

—More from Dane Miller—