Arizona coach Sean Miller has been notified he will be subpoenaed during the federal trial in April into college basketball corruption, according to Yahoo sports, potentially putting the school and its high-profile basketball program in an unusual spot.
Yahoo reported that attorneys for both Miller and LSU coach Will Wade have been given notifications that they will be called to testify in a case involving aspiring agent Christian Dawkins and Adidas rep Merl Code, who face federal funds bribery charges.
Dawkins is expected to try to show that he did not bribe coaches, possibly via witness testimony about recruiting.
βWeβre going to aggressively pursue witnesses we deem relevant,β Dawkinsβ attorney, Steve Haney, told Yahoo.
ESPN has reported that phones registered to Miller and Dawkins were connected for at least five minutes on 13 different occasions between May 3, 2017 and July 2, 2017.
Millerβs attorney, Chicago-based Stephen Thompson, declined to comment when reached by the Arizona Daily Star on Monday. Thompson also represented then-UA guard Allonzo Trier when he successfully appealed his PED-related suspension last season.
It is possible that Thompson and other attorneys could move to quash the subpoena, though they would have to demonstrate that their clientsβ testimony would not be relevant.
Because the April trial involves federal bribery charges against Dawkins and Code, instead of the fraud charges that led to the first college basketball trial in October, it could be more likely that coachesβ testimony would be considered relevant this time.
At the end of a three-week federal trial in New York last October, Dawkins, along with Adidas reps James Gatto and Code, were found guilty on felony charges of wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
Yahoo first reported on Feb. 4 that Miller was expected to be subpoenaed, and he declined to comment about it a day later when asked during his weekly news conference.
A year ago, Miller denied ever paying a player to attend the UA after spending five days away from the Wildcats in the wake of an ESPN report saying he discussed a pay-for-play scheme with Dawkins.
On Feb. 6, two days after Yahooβs first subpoena report, the UA announced it was moving to fire UA assistant coach Mark Phelps for an NCAA issue that ESPN said involved the academics of former UA recruit Shareef OβNeal.
Arizona AD Dave Heeke said the move to remove Phelps was a direct result of UAβs commitment to the βhighest standards of integrity and ethical conduct,β and the school said it was not related to the federal investigation.
The UA earlier fired another of Millerβs former assistant coaches, Book Richardson, who was arrested in September 2017 as part of the federal investigation. Richardson had been scheduled to stand trial along with Dawkins and Code in April, but accepted a plea deal that could result in anywhere from probation to 18-24 months in prison.
Richardson is scheduled to be sentenced on April 24 in New York, just two days after Dawkinsβ bribery trial is scheduled to begin.
Another of Millerβs 2016-17 assistant coaches, Joe Pasternack, was mentioned in the October trial when the father of five-star recruit Brian Bowen testified that Dawkins told him Pasternack was offering $50,000 for his son to play for the Wildcats.
Pasternack is now the head coach at UC Santa Barbara.
(Almost) over-eager
Ira Leeβs many demonstrative dunks brought cheers throughout McKale Center during the Wildcatsβ wins over California and Stanford, but there was one little problem.
βNow, he has to run back on defense,β Miller said, smiling, when asked about Leeβs antics after the Stanford game.
βI would say nobody has ever celebrated every made field goal more than Ira. We want him to be enthusiastic. But, you know, you have to expect to make the jump hook and run back.β
Guard Justin Coleman said Lee gets more excited than anybody heβs played with during his five-year college career, but he also chuckled over the potential drawback.
βSometimes I say, βIra, get back on defense,β and heβs like βOh, Iβve got to play defense,ββ Coleman said.
But neither Coleman nor Miller were complaining overall.
βI think all of us, his teammates included, appreciate his smile, appreciate his enthusiasm, his love for the game,β Miller said. βHe wants to do well, he wants to win and itβs nice to see him be rewarded for his work.β
Recovery time
After guard Brandon Williams hit the upper end of his time limit, playing 18 minutes Sunday against Stanford in his first game back from a knee injury, Miller said how he recovers early this week will be key. But he said he hoped to get Williams back to full speed before the Pac-12 Tournament in two weeks.
βHopefully (heβll be there) before, but a lot of it is just how he reacts to something he hasnβt done in a long time,β Miller said after the game Sunday. βHopefully, he doesnβt experience pain. If he does, we will shut him down immediately. But if he doesnβt, then slowly, very slowly weβll ramp him up and put him in a position on Thursday to maybe have a slightly bigger role than he had tonight.β
Meanwhile, Miller said center Chase Jeter is just now returning to normal after suffering a back injury on Jan. 19.
Jeter returned after two games, but Miller said he was limited until recently.
βI really think he went through about a 10-day period of time where he did the best he could, but its timing was off. Thatβs why practice is important,β Miller said.
βBut he started to regain it, I think on our last road trip, and this week I think heβs almost returned back to form.
βHe can score over both shoulders, but he went through a couple of weeks period of time where he would only turn over one shoulder. Chase has great hands and the more that he plays, I think the more confident that heβll get.β
Rim shots
- Washington finally cracked the AP Top 25 (at No. 25) for the first time since appearing in the preseason poll, also at 25. That gave the Pac-12 a representative in the poll for the first time since ASU was No. 17 on Dec. 24. The Sun Devils then lost at home to Princeton and have not returned.
- Washingtonβs Matisse Thybulle picked up the Pac-12 Player of the Week award after averaging 15.5 points, 6.0 steals, 5.0 rebounds and 4.5 blocks in the Huskiesβ home sweep of Utah and Colorado last weekend.
