Arizona was expected to receive its long-awaited Notice of Allegations from the NCAA on Thursday, according to a report in Sports Illustrated, but neither UA officials nor coach Sean Miller acknowledged receiving one.
AΒ notice of allegations signalsΒ that the NCAA enforcement staff has finished its investigation and will reveal if it has charged a school with one or more of the most serious "Level 1" violations, which can result in postseason bans and/or other significant penalties. In 2018, Miller also had a $1 million penalty worked into his contract if he is charged with a Level 1 violation.
Once an NOA is received, a school has 90 days to respond. The NCAA then has 60 days to respond to the school's reply and a hearing is set with the NCAA infractions committee, after which the NCAA is expected to issue a final decision within three months.
School appeals are allowed after the decision is made, so if the NOA was received Thursday, the timeline suggests Arizona may not receive a resolution to its case until next spring, with any potential penalties not likely to affect this season's team.
Schools can also have their cases handled through the NCAA's Independent Accountability Resolution Process -- in which an outside panel decides the fate of complex cases via a hearing -- as LSU, Kansas and N.C. State have.
Arizona, Alabama and LSU have been the last schools implicated in the federal investigation into college basketball not to have received an NOA. Kansas, Louisville, North Carolina State, Oklahoma State, USC, TCU, and South Carolina have confirmed receiving NOAs, though SI reported that Creighton and Auburn have not acknowledged them.
Schools can choose whether or not to acknowledge NOAs, though an NCAA official said the organization "cannot comment on current, pending or potential cases" due to member rules.
UA confirmed in May 2019 that an NCAA investigation was underway but, during a previously scheduled preseason news conference Thursday, Miller declined to say whether or not Arizona had received an NOA.Β
"I'm not gonna comment on anything that is around any investigation," Miller said. "That's really what I'm called to do as a member of our athletic department, so I'm not able to comment."
Several inquires to UA spokesmen about whether the school would acknowledge receiving an NOA were referred back to Miller's comments. The coach also declined to say whether the NCAA investigation has affected his recruiting or his players' mindsets.
"I mean, we're looking forward to today's practice, to the future," Miller said.
Multiple public records requests by the Star for communication between the NCAA and Arizona over the investigation have returned no records so far.
On Wednesday, SI's Pat Forde reported that some insiders believe cheating throughout college basketball is getting worse. Forde quoted an NCAA enforcement executive saying he was "disappointed that we continue to receive actionable information from the membership."Β
It's been over three years since the federal investigation into college basketball was made public, with then-UA assistant coach Book Richardson arrested and eventually imprisoned for three months after admitting to taking $20,000 in bribes as part of a plea agreement.
All three of UAβs assistant coaches from the 2016-17 season were implicated in the federal proceedings or found to have broken NCAA rules, with Richardson serving his three-month prison sentence from July to October 2019.
In addition, ESPN reported in February 2018 that Miller was caught on federal wiretap discussing a $100,000 pay-for-play scheme for former UA star Deandre Ayton with aspiring agent Christian Dawkins, an allegation both Ayton and Miller have denied.
Even if Miller is not found to have directly committed violations, he could be assessed a Level 1 penalty for the actions of his assistants under NCAAβs βhead coach responsibilityβ rule, Bylaw 11.1.1.1.
Arizona was mentioned in both federal trials resulting from the FBI's investigation, in October 2018 and April and May 2019. Miller faced several allegations that surfaced during the second trial, when Dawkins was found guilty of two federal bribery charges.
During that second trial, a recording was played in which Richardson told Dawkins that Miller βboughtβ Ayton and was paying him $10,000 a month. Dawkins said on the recording, from a June 2017 conversation, that Miller told him he was βtaking care of everything myselfβ regarding Ayton but offered to turn everything over to Dawkins as he sought to gain Ayton as a professional client.
Asked what Dawkins meant in the recording, government witness Marty Blazer testified that, βI understood that to mean (Miller) had been taking care of payments to Deandre Ayton. Sean Miller was taking care of everything for Deandre Ayton and his family.β
A March 2020 HBO documentary about the federal investigation and Dawkinsβ role in it, titled βThe Scheme,β revealed additional audio obtained from federal evidence.
Included was a conversation between Miller and Dawkins in which Dawkins said handlers of five-star recruit Nassir Little, who was believed to be choosing between Miami and Arizona at the time, "definitely wanted to get some (expletive) for themselves.β
Miller replied: βMiami doesnβt have an advantage over us in that area, do they?βΒ
The film also contained wiretaps between Dawkins and Richardson that were played in the trial, including one where the former UA assistant says Miller βfrontedβ a deal for Ayton. In on-camera interview for the movie, Dawkins said βthereβs no way you can separate Seanβ Β from any belief that Richardson was a cheater.
In the spring 2019 federal trial, a recorded phone call was played in which Dawkins told business partner Munish Sood that βSean's the one who fronted that deal (for Ayton). So it's gonna be some money but I mean, we'll figure it out." On another phone call, Dawkins said Miller was "taking care of Rawle (Alkins) and them," referring to the former UA wing.
In February 2019, Miller was notified that he would be subpoenaed for the April 2019 bribery trial but a judge sided with prosecutorsβ request that testimony from Miller should not be allowed because it was not relevant.
That decision frustrated Dawkinsβ attorney, Steve Haney, who asked in his closing arguments "Did anyone from the University of Arizona even testify in this case anyway?"
In βThe Scheme,β Haney said he didnβt care if Miller or LSU coach Will Wade was paying players but chuckled when he asked rhetorically if Miller was doing so.
βIf you canβt believe the head assistant coach, on a wiretap, who doesnβt know heβs being recorded, in his truest of moments, talking to his buddy, and heβs saying that Sean Miller is paying players?" Haney said. "You have to be a really, really diehard Arizona fan to believe that heβs not."
At the end of the 2019 trial, a jury found Dawkins guilty of bribery and conspiracy to commit bribery, while he was found not guilty on three charges of bribery, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and the travel act.
Following the verdict, DawkinsΒ told a Star correspondentΒ that he "never had conversations" with Miller about delivering Ayton to Arizona. Dawkins added that he didn't see anything wrong with paying players, and that he wouldn't "throw nobody under the bus for something I agree with."Β
"I'm not going to put (Miller) in a position that could hurt him,"Β he said then. "It's just too sensitive for me. I don't care that much. I don't want him to lose his job."Β
At the time, Dawkins also questioned the accuracy of a February 2018 ESPN.com story that said Miller discussed paying Ayton $100,000.
Miller spent five days away from the Wildcats after the ESPN story was published in February 2018, returning to team after UA officials said they asked him pointed questions.Β Β
When he returned on March 1, 2018, Miller read a prepared statement that said he βhad never knowingly violated NCAA rules β¦ never paid a recruit or prospect or their family or representative to come to Arizona. I never have and I never will.β Miller said he was approached once about paying a player (whom he did not name), and that he wouldn't agree to it.
After Millerβs statement was aired in "The Scheme," the camera cut to Dawkins.
βYou wanna know my opinion?β Dawkins says. βWhen Sean had his press conference and said has a player from Arizona ever received money or did he know anything about a player from Arizona receiving money, did he lie?
βYeah. That wasnβt true.β
"I mean, Sean should have his own movie agent or some (expletive) or manager. Like, he should be an actor. That was really high-level. I was convinced, honestly.β
Also played during the spring 2019 trial were multiple recordings of Richardson discussing recruiting and his pledges to send players such as Alkins, Allonzo Trier and possibly Ayton to Dawkinsβ fledgling firm for representation. Videos were shown of Richardson taking $15,000 and $5,000 in cash on separate occasions, with Richardson stating plans to use it to help lure recruits.
After the trial, Yahoo reported that a transcript not used in the trial quoted Richardson discussing with Dawkins, Sood and two undercover FBI agents about a plan to pay $40,000 to have a course added to Alkinsβ high school transcript so that he would be eligible to play as a freshman in 2016-17.
Richardson did not appear in the spring 2019 trial, having pled guilty to a federal funds bribery charge while other charges were dismissed. He was then sentenced to three months in Otisville Federal Correctional Institute in New York, becoming the first coach involved in the federal investigation to serve prison time.
Richardson has declined to discuss his case with the Star but told the New York Daily News in a story earlier this month that he was "helping kids when they got on my campus, yes," and detailed a difficult personal life since his October 2019 release.
Richardson also told the Daily News he felt scapegoated in the federal investigation, which resulted in only two assistant coaches -- Richardson and Oklahoma State's Lamont EvansΒ -- being sentenced to prison.
During the FBI's September 2017 news conference, William Sweeney, the Assistant Director of its New York office, said "we have your playbook," warning others in college athletics that they could be investigated for behaving similarly in what was then a still-open investigation.
"When they tell the world that you have our playbook, and you only get four Black assistant coaches and two of them go to jail. What playbook did you have?" Richardson said. "Was that the audible playbook? Was that the freshman playbook? The JV playbook? Which playbook did you have?'β
Under contract through the 2021-22 season, Miller received a $100,000 raise in 2020-21 that raised his guaranteed pay to $2.9 million plus incentives. However, he has agreed to take a pandemic-related pay cut of $360,000 this year, representing to 20% of his $1.8 million base salary. Miller also earns $700,000 from UA for βperipheral duties" and another $400,000 from Nike and IMG.
