Arizona Wildcats head coach Sean Miller will not coach tonight against Oregon after being linked to the ongoing FBI investigation into corruption and bribery in college basketball, according to Greg Hansen of the Arizona Daily Star.
"Sean Miller will not coach Arizona tonight at Oregon," Hansen said. "Players have been told."
This decision comes on the heels of a report by ESPN's Mark Schlabach that FBI wiretaps have Miller, who has been Arizona's head coach since 2009, and former ASM Sports agent Christian Dawkins discussing making a payment of $100K to star center Deandre Ayton to ensure he signed with the Wildcats.
Miller's status beyond tonight's game is uncertain. Current assistant and former Washington head coach Lorenzo Romar will coach the team in Miller's absence.
Ayton, who at one time was the No. 1 overall prospect in the 2017 recruiting class, has emerged as one of the favorites to win both Pac-12 and National Player of the Year, averaging 19.6 points and 10.9 rebounds per game.
Arizona has said that Ayton will play tonight's game.
Dawkins and former Arizona assistant Emmanuel "Book" Richardson were two of the 10 people arrested in September when the FBI released their initial findings in the investigation.
Richardson, who was fired by the school in January, is accused of accepting $20K in bribes from Dawkins and financial advisor Munish Sood and giving a prospect $5K in order to get him to commit to Arizona. That prospect is believed to be 2018 five-star PG Jahvon Quinerly, who has since committed to Villanova.
Miller distanced himself from the investigation at that time, saying he had no knowledge of any wrongdoing within his program.
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