Sean Miller / Arizona

[HoustonCuse]

A seemingly respected poster on their Bear Down board keeps insisting that Miller was way out in front of this and was working with the FBI. He says that's why Romar was hired because he knew he'd need a new ace recruiter (I always thought Romar was pretty dirty himself). Sounds delusional, but take that for what it's worth.

So what is the theory there. A totally innocent Miller stumbles across Book buying recruits and instead of a). Telling him to cut it out, b). Firing him, c). Reporting the issues to the Compliance Dept and sitting the players in question, he calls the FBI and initiates some kind of sting operation?? All the while playing games with completely ineligible players? That is an awesome theory!

 

[themorey]

Want Miller fired. I picked Arizona to win the title last year. Still bitter. If they were buying players why were they unable to beat Xavier in the sweet 16.

That's entirely your fault for picking a Sean Miller coached team to even reach the final 4. For shame.

 

[themorey]

View attachment 111332

In that article Book talks about how he was already paying Player-5 (Quinerly) but needed more money to pay the kids mother. That begs the question of where the $$ was coming from to pay Player-5? That wasn't discussed in the released indictment but I bet Book is laying it out now. I sincerely doubt Book was paying it himself. Maybe it was sneaker money (Nike) or some other source. Either way its another $ trail for the FBI to investigate.

 

[Devilsadvocate]

Sean Miller heading into the weekend . . .

 

[jr4750]

So what is the theory there. A totally innocent Miller stumbles across Book buying recruits and instead of a). Telling him to cut it out, b). Firing him, c). Reporting the issues to the Compliance Dept and sitting the players in question, he calls the FBI and initiates some kind of sting operation?? All the while playing games with completely ineligible players? That is an awesome theory!

{Seinfeld voice} It offends me as a comedian that fans could be so dumb. Head coaches know what's happening, its their freaking head on the block if things go south. I am totally with you. If Miller is innocent in this, having employed Book for 11 years, he is at best incompetent. If he was secretly working for the FBI to try and "clean up the game," then how many assistant coaches would ever work with him again, how many top players would come play for him?? He just ratted out Quinerly too, a kid who he wanted, "so badly," according the affidavit. He wanted him so badly, the kid is now most likely ineligible to play D1 ball. Good luck as a recruiter now.

 

[TinyManInside]

It offends me as a comedian that fans could be so dumb. Head coaches know what's happening, its their freaking head on the block if things go south. I am totally with you. If Miller is innocent in this, having employed Book for 11 years, he is at best incompetent. If he was secretly working for the FBI to try and "clean up the game," then how many assistant coaches would ever work with him again, how many top players would come play for him?? He just ratted out Quinerly too, a kid who he wanted, "so badly," according the affidavit. He wanted him so so badly, the kid is now most likely ineligible to play D1 ball. Good luck as a recruiter now.

Exactly. Great post.

 

[Hoo's That]

To add to what has already been posted, everything that was announced by the Feds is based on the web developed when they arrested Blazer for SEC violations unrelated to Adidas and he turned into a cooperating witness and told them about the college basketball stuff in hopes of reducing his sentence. The case started a couple of years ago and and been put together literally piece by piece. The 10 who were arrested will be more than happy to give the FBI more pieces in exchange for their chance at a reduced sentence.

 

[texascpa]

To add to what has already been posted, everything that was announced by the Feds is based on the web developed when they arrested Blazer for SEC violations unrelated to Adidas and he turned into a cooperating witness and told them about the college basketball stuff in hopes of reducing his sentence. The case started a couple of years ago and and been put together literally piece by piece. The 10 who were arrested will be more than happy to give the FBI more pieces in exchange for their chance at a reduced sentence.

I keep posting the same. It baffles me how many people think NCAA was part of the tip to the FBI or some schools were.

 

[TinyManInside]

I keep posting the same. It baffles me how many people think NCAA was part of the tip to the FBI or some schools were.

That's because most people don't read the articles, they only read the headlines.

Everyone who is screaming out "If Kentucky, Duke, [pick your favorite team to hate] isn't in this, it's a total sham investigation" doesn't understand how the investigation originated and where the evidence has led.

The current string of evidence simply hasn't overlapped with other schools because they apparently weren't tied to Blazer. There are tons of other money men out there, and also different ways to pay off recruits besides through the shoe companies, but none of that is a focus of the investigation (yet?).

 

[JOC44]

That's because most people don't read the articles, they only read the headlines.

Everyone who is screaming out "If Kentucky, Duke, [pick your favorite team to hate] isn't in this, it's a total sham investigation" doesn't understand how the investigation originated and where the evidence has led.

The current string of evidence simply hasn't overlapped with other schools because they apparently weren't tied to Blazer. There are tons of other money men out there, and also different ways to pay off recruits besides through the shoe companies, but none of that is a focus of the investigation (yet?).

It's like the Mitchell Report in MLB. Did it focus on the Yankees, Mets, and, to a lesser extent the Orioles because they were necessarily the worst offenders? No, the focus was there because that's where they got the witnesses.

An investigation goes where its evidence takes it, and you can't assume the investigation is comprehensive.

 

[Rage4CUSE]

{Seinfeld voice} It offends me as a comedian that fans could be so dumb. Head coaches know what's happening, its their freaking head on the block if things go south. I am totally with you. If Miller is innocent in this, having employed Book for 11 years, he is at best incompetent. If he was secretly working for the FBI to try and "clean up the game," then how many assistant coaches would ever work with him again, how many top players would come play for him?? He just ratted out Quinerly too, a kid who he wanted, "so badly," according the affidavit. He wanted him so badly, the kid is now most likely ineligible to play D1 ball. Good luck as a recruiter now.

Was I supposed to read the whole thing in Seinfeld voice? Because I did.

 

[JazzNC]

I can't believe this turd is still employed!

 

[themorey]

I can't believe this turd is still employed!

Because he recruits above his abilities to produce FF and championships. Nm, that's just more reason to think he is guilty and should be fired. Carry on...

 

[jr4750]

How much does this cost you these days? Eh Sean?? No idea what Book did to get you this kid either, I bet.

 

[tep624]

It's like the Mitchell Report in MLB. Did it focus on the Yankees, Mets, and, to a lesser extent the Orioles because they were necessarily the worst offenders? No, the focus was there because that's where they got the witnesses.

An investigation goes where its evidence takes it, and you can't assume the investigation is comprehensive.

I guess it all comes down to the scope of the investigation and how far they want to go with it. I truly believe this is a case where the evidence will lead above and beyond the shoe companies and it will come down to the FBI/DOJ to decide if they want to go for the throat.

What will be telling to me is if they pursue tax evasion charges against the recruits/families - we all know that will likely lead to new revelations as they roll over.

 

[reedny]

I guess it all comes down to the scope of the investigation and how far they want to go with it. I truly believe this is a case where the evidence will lead above and beyond the shoe companies and it will come down to the FBI/DOJ to decide if they want to go for the throat.

What will be telling to me is if they pursue tax evasion charges against the recruits/families - we all know that will likely lead to new revelations as they roll over.

Interesting point. One possible line of further investigation is the recruits and their families. The AUSA who announced the crackdown painted them as victims -- which they are in some ways. They're pawns in a black market for 'amateur' talent that can easily be corrupted by the process. But failing to report $100k is also a serious matter, either on an NCAA form or a tax return. In this regard, the DOJ's pubic comments were a bit strange (although they may refer cases to the IRS).

Add: Also, people clamoring for Miller to be arrested are forgetting the NCAA part of the picture. Getting caught paying recruits is not going to go unpunished.

 

[tep624]

Interesting point. One possible line of further investigation is the recruits and their families. The AUSA who announced the crackdown painted them as victims -- which they are in some ways. They're pawns in a black market for 'amateur' talent that can easily be corrupted by the process. But failing to report $100k is also a serious matter, either on an NCAA form or a tax return. This aspect of the DOJ's investigation was a bit strange (they may refer some parts of it to the IRS). But people clamoring for Miller to be arrested are forgetting the NCAA part of the picture.

Yeah I don't understand how you can ignore tax evasion and I'm not exactly sure how someone getting paid for something they shouldn't be getting paid for per the rules makes them a victim. But you're probably right on the "pawn" angle...that's the only way I can see someone getting paid 6 figures being a considered a victim. Probably a drop inside a drop in the bucket in the grand scheme of things.

 

[Hoo's That]

To be both flippant and serious at the same time - "It depends on when they got the money." If they received the bribe in 2016, they're in big trouble unless they file an amended return ASAP. If they received it in 2017, they don't owe any taxes on it until April 15, 2018.

 

[HoustonCuse]

How much does this cost you these days? Eh Sean?? No idea what Book did to get you this kid either, I bet.

Holy cow, that is flat out crazy!

 

[TinyManInside]

Yeah I don't understand how you can ignore tax evasion and I'm not exactly sure how someone getting paid for something they shouldn't be getting paid for per the rules makes them a victim. But you're probably right on the "pawn" angle...that's the only way I can see someone getting paid 6 figures being a considered a victim. Probably a drop inside a drop in the bucket in the grand scheme of things.

It's because the FBI can totally leverage these families - they can paint them as victims as long they play ball and tell the FBI everything they want to hear about their recruitment, or put the screws to them if they refuse to play ball - that's when they get turned over to the IRS.

The kids/families here are bad situations unless they reported their incomes (not likely, because that leaves a trail).

 

[Zelda Zonk]

This is all such a mess that it leads me to think about the little things. Like the end of game handshake line. When Team A's coaching staff knows they lost a recruit to Team B's staff and they believe it was an issue of cash... and they've gotta do 'the sportsmanship thang.' Are any of those hands getting the white knuckle squeeze?

 

[Waltdods]

It's because the FBI can totally leverage these families - they can paint them as victims as long they play ball and tell the FBI everything they want to hear about their recruitment, or put the screws to them if they refuse to play ball - that's when they get turned over to the IRS.

The kids/families here are bad situations unless they reported their incomes (not likely, because that leaves a trail).

I think people are over-rating the tax evasion angle here some. Even if they have someone dead to rights on taking 100k and not reporting it my guess would be that 95 percent of cases settle with a fine and maybe some probation. I would be shocked if a first time offender ever went to jail under those circumstances. The smart ones can probably even amend their old returns and deal with this proactively.

 

[AZOrange]

I think people are over-rating the tax evasion angle here some. Even if they have someone dead to rights on taking 100k and not reporting it my guess would be that 95 percent of cases settle with a fine and maybe some probation. I would be shocked if a first time offender ever went to jail under those circumstances. The smart ones can probably even amend their old returns and deal with this proactively.

Totally agreed. They got these guys dead to rights on more serious stuff.

 

[Madbiker]

What did Sean Miller know...and when did he know it? Let the inquisition begin.

 

[SUbear]

I think people are over-rating the tax evasion angle here some. Even if they have someone dead to rights on taking 100k and not reporting it my guess would be that 95 percent of cases settle with a fine and maybe some probation. I would be shocked if a first time offender ever went to jail under those circumstances. The smart ones can probably even amend their old returns and deal with this proactively.

You would be incorrect, this would not be simple tax evasion. Any person(s) in a Conspiracy to commit tax fraud is subject to a 10,000 dollar fine and up to five years jail time, in addition to paying any applicable tax due, and this would fall under the conspiracy statute or would be charged under that statute. Of course they would have to be convicted, but the evidence seems to be there.
That could be a pretty persuasive charge/threat to get information, even if the gov never intends to take serious action action. No cooperation and you get charged.