Timeline: Arizona Wildcats' 2017-18 season was bookended by disaster, drama

Putting a stamp on the 2017-18 season

From the federal investigation that saw the FBI on Arizona assistant coach Book Richardson's doorstep, to a breathtaking loss in Boise, Idaho, the Arizona Wildcats' season started and ended in a similar tone.

Wildcats' exhibition trip to spain

Aug. 17

A day before their final exhibition game in Spain, a terrorist plows a van through an area of Barcelona’s famed Las Ramblas just five blocks from the Wildcats’ hotel. Nobody in Arizona’s traveling party is hurt but the Wildcats are shaken up on what was a free afternoon. “We had a couple of players experience the flow of people running,” UA coach Sean Miller said later. “Not necessarily like you were part of it as much as you could kind of sense something was wrong … it was very frightening."

Federal investigation rocks program; Alkins breaks foot

Sept. 26

The federal investigation into college basketball is announced, resulting in the arrest of Arizona assistant coach Emanuel “Book” Richardson on federal bribery and fraud charges. UA immediately suspends Richardson.

In the afternoon, UA announces that sophomore forward Rawle Alkins broke his right foot and will miss 8-12 weeks.

Sept. 27

UA president Robert C. Robbins announces the school will hire an external law firm to conduct an independent investigation into the basketball program. The UA initiates the dismissal process of Richardson.

Sean Miller shows support of UA investigation

Oct. 3

After a week of silence, during which UA canceled its annual preseason media day, UA coach Sean Miller issues a statement saying he supports the university’s efforts to investigate the allegations and that he recognized his responsibility to “promote and reinforce a culture of compliance,” saying he’s done so for over eight years to the best of his ability.

Oct. 12 

Peppered with questions during the Pac-12’s annual media day about whether he knew Richardson was taking bribes, if he had talked to the FBI and recruiting, Miller says six times that he was going to stand by the statement he issued on Oct. 3. The Wildcats are picked to finish first in the conference’s official media poll.

Early-season injury, suspensions make for shaky start

Nov. 3

Freshman forward Brandon Randolph suffers a concussion in practice and misses both the Wildcats’ Nov. 4 exhibition with Chico State and their season opener.

Nov. 10

Arizona suspends assistant coach Mark Phelps for its first two games and senior forward Keanu Pinder for its opening night game with NAU. Both are suspended for NCAA rules violations but UA declines to specify which ones. UA records released in response to the Star’s public records request revealed only that Phelps admitted the violation; the school would not release records on Pinder, saying they were protected by student-privacy rules.

Arizona suffers through Bahamian fiasco

Nov. 22

Unranked North Carolina State upsets Arizona 90-84 in the first round of the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament in the Bahamas by shooting 49.1 percent from the field. “We had plenty of offense but our defense was really, really bad,” Miller says.

Nov. 24

Arizona completes a stunning 0-3 performances in the Bahamas, allowing Purdue to shoot 57.4 percent and hit 11 of 22 3-pointers in the seventh-place game while making just 3 of 17 3-pointers themselves. After the game, Miller is asked if the federal investigation into college basketball had crept into his players’ minds. “Our focus is just on the season right now,” Miller says.

Nov. 27

The Wildcats become the first team in 31 years to drop from No. 2 to all the way out of the Associated Press Top 25 poll.

With Alkins, Cats make run before falling in Boulder

Sean Miller on his postgame criticism of players not giving effort after Arizona fell to Colorado on Saturday. pic.twitter.com/phF3VOjOBm

— The Wildcaster (@TheWildcaster) January 8, 2018

Dec. 9

Alkins returns to play 22 minutes in UA’s 88-82 win over Alabama at McKale Center, while Deandre Ayton sets soon-to-be-broken season highs of 29 points and 18 rebounds.

Jan. 6

After a string of nine straight wins, including an 84-78 victory over then-third-ranked ASU in their Pac-12 opener, the Wildcats fall behind by 20 points at Colorado early and lose 80-77 while allowing the Buffaloes to shoot 54.7 percent. “I can’t get them to play hard. I really can’t,” Miller said. “I have a hard time reaching our guys.”

Alkins back to bench, UA earns lone road sweep

Jan. 17

Alkins sits out of UA’s 79-58 win at Cal because of renewed soreness in his previously broken right foot.

Jan. 20

Ayton fouls out for only one of three times all season while Miller is called for a technical foul, but the Wildcats hold on to win 73-71 at Stanford to capture their only Pac-12 road sweep of the season.

Jan. 25

After playing 34 minutes at Stanford on Jan. 20, Alkins sits out the first of two more games because of soreness in his foot.

Wildcats bounce back from home loss

Feb. 8

UCLA shoots 51.6 percent to snap Arizona’s 12-game homecourt winning streak with an 82-74 win that tied for the third-largest UA homecourt loss margin in the Miller era, behind only a 99-69 loss to BYU in 2009-10 and a 65-54 loss to Bucknell in the 2012 NIT.

Feb. 10

After a team meeting, Arizona crushes USC on the rebounding glass, 40-22, while beating the Trojans 81-67 at McKale. The win, coupled with UCLA and Washington losses, gives UA a commanding two-game lead in the Pac-12 with three weeks to go.

Trier suspended, Miller implicated, Cats bounced in Eugene

Feb. 22

Arizona announces that the NCAA has suspended guard Allonzo Trier indefinitely after he tested positive the same PED, Ostarine, that resulted in a 19-game suspension in 2016-17. Oregon State takes UA to overtime before the Wildcats win 75-65 in Corvallis.

Feb. 23

Trier flies to Salt Lake City with a UA compliance official to take a drug test at a lab that can process the results quickly. Snowy weather in Salt Lake City delays his return.

That night, ESPN posts a report that Miller allegedly discussed paying Ayton $100,000 to secure his commitment. ESPN later changes the timeline of the alleged discussion from 2017 to spring 2016 to just 2016 and then back to 2017. Ayton committed to UA in September 2016.

Feb. 24

Miller issues a one-paragraph statement saying he won’t coach the Wildcats at Oregon that night, but says he is “confident I will be vindicated.” Associate head coach Lorenzo Romar leads the Wildcats in a 98-93 overtime loss at Matthew Knight Arena, where fans boo Ayton every time he touches the ball and wave a six-figure cardboard “check” at him, among other signs. Ayton responds with 28 points and 18 rebounds, but is scoreless in overtime. “Oh, he’s getting through it,” Romar says of Ayton’s response. “You look at his play tonight and it seemed like he handled it pretty well.”

Miller returns, calls ESPN reports 'false and defamatory'

Sean Miller on the ESPN story of wiretap recordings of him discussing a $100K payment to land Deandre Ayton: “Any report to the contrary is inaccurate, false and defamatory. I’m outraged by the media statements.” pic.twitter.com/tfqCzJZ8FF

— The Wildcaster (@TheWildcaster) March 1, 2018

March 1

After five days of public silence, while Romar continued to coach the Wildcats in Miller’s place during practices, UA announces it has decided Miller will remain its basketball coach after asking him “direct and pointed questions.”

Miller reads from a statement in front of the media, denouncing ESPN’s report as “false and defamatory,” but takes no questions.

Later in the afternoon, UA announces Trier has won his appeal and will play against Stanford, and his attorney said the negative drug test he took in Utah helped strengthen his case.

That night, McKale Center fans give Miller a standing ovation as he walks on the court for the national anthem, with one holding a “VINDICATED” sign directly behind the UA bench. Arizona plays unevenly but beats Stanford 75-67.

Ayton leads Miller, Wildcats to outright title

What a day to be an Arizona Wildcat. pic.twitter.com/F4d9L84dDA

— Justin Spears (@JustinESports) March 4, 2018

March 3

Ayton has Arizona’s first “20-20” game in more than 40 years when he leads UA to a 66-54 win over Cal with 26 points and 20 rebounds. After the game, the Wildcats celebrate their outright Pac-12 championship by running through the student section and cutting down the nets. Miller adds to the Senior Day festivities by introducing Ayton, Alkins and Trier, since all three are leaving for professional basketball.

One more coronation in Las Vegas

Sean Miller cuts down the nets in Las for the third time at Arizona! pic.twitter.com/pX2FaDdVCb

— The Wildcaster (@TheWildcaster) March 11, 2018

March 9

After outscoring Colorado by 14 in the second half of their Pac-12 Tournament quarterfinal win, the Wildcats beat UCLA 78-67 in overtime.

March 10

Ayton has another 32 points plus 18 rebounds to lead the Wildcats to a 75-61 win over USC in the Pac-12 Tournament championship game and is named tournament MVP.

Arizona ends season with colossal flop in first round

Sunday

Arizona receives the last No. 4 seed and is assigned to a first-round game against No. 13 Buffalo in Boise, Idaho, instead of San Diego, where they were likely to receive much greater fan support.

Thursday

Buffalo shoots 54.8 percent overall and hits 15 of 30 3-pointers to end Arizona’s season with an 89-68 blowout loss, the second-largest margin of defeat a No. 4 seed has ever suffered by a No. 13 seed in NCAA Tournament history.