Arizona said HBO's "The Scheme" documentary about the federal investigation into college basketball does not change its approach to allegations surrounding its men's basketball program.
Asked if it had comment about the documentary before and after it started airing Tuesday evening, a school spokesman returned the following response to the Star on Wednesday afternoon:
“The HBO documentary which aired last night does not change our approach to allegations surrounding our men’s basketball program. We have cooperated fully with the FBI investigation and continue to cooperate with the ongoing NCAA investigation. We look forward to the conclusion of the process.”
UA coach Sean Miller is featured several times in the two-hour-long documentary, and wiretapped conversations of him with agent Christian Dawkins are played toward the end of the movie. In one, Miller asks Dawkins if Miami had an advantage "over us in that area" after Dawkins says the coaches of a top recruit's club teams were "looking for (expletive)."
Dawkins also said Miller was lying when he made his March 1, 2018 statement that he had never paid a player to attend Arizona, and that Miller could not be separated from anything that assistant coach Book Richardson did. Richardson admitted to taking $20,000 in bribes and spent three months in a federal prison last year.
According to a tweet from the New Orleans Times-Picayune, LSU athletic director Scott Woodward said there is no change to the status of coach Will Wade, who is also featured in the movie speaking with Dawkins. In one conversation, Wade says he could compensate a player "more than the rookie minimum."
