“Not a shred of evidence has ben adduced suggesting otherwise, which federal investigators and NCAA officials have acknowledged. Ayton has credibly and consistently maintained that neither he nor any member of his family, nor any representative thereof, received any money or extra benefit to influence his decision to attend the University of Arizona,” Kelly said. Paul Kelly, a Boston-based attorney who’s conducting Arizona’s investigation into the FBI probe, released a statement Sunday night saying Ayton had voluntarily agreed to several interviews over the past several months - with the federal prosecutors and the FBI, UA and Pac-12 compliance officials, the NCAA and an independent law firm on behalf of the university. Ayton was already on campus by the time any June 19-Sept. Murkiness of the timelines aside, it does not rule out that compromising information was possibly found on the wiretaps, though those familiar with the conversations are highly dubious that it involved a $100,000 tag for Ayton to specifically sign with Arizona. Ayton has had mentors/handlers involved in his process at different stages of his basketball career, but Dawkins has never been one of them.ĭawkins was working as a “runner” for NBA agent Andy Miller’s ASM Sports Group, whose records were seized as part of the FBI investigation. Ayton did play, recording 28 points,18 rebounds and four blocks.įurther twisting the plot is that Dawkins has never been associated - to anyone’s knowledge - with Ayton. Miller did not coach in Saturday night’s overtime loss at Oregon. Reached by 247Sports on Monday afternoon, an ESPN spokesperson reaffirmed that the network stands by its 2016 timeline. He arrived on campus on June 10 of 2017, according to a source. The fourth-ranked player in the 247Sports Composite, Ayton signed with Arizona on Nov. Attorney's office notified multiple parties who had conversations with Dawkins that their phone calls had been recorded specifically during the dates of Jand Sept. ESPN then corrected its first correction, stating that the phone call between Miller and Dawkins took place in the year 2016, removing the "spring" designation.Ī source told 247Sports that Dawkins (who had his phone tapped by the FBI) and Miller had calls intercepted between the timeframe of June 19 of 2017, through Sept. The network then issued a correction, stating that the phone call between Miller and Dawkins took place in the spring of 2016. On Friday, ESPN reported that FBI wiretaps intercepted calls between Arizona head coach Sean Miller and former ASM sports associate Christian Dawkins, “in which Miller discussed paying $100,000 to ensure star freshman DeAndre Ayton signed with the Wildcats.” During a TV report, ESPN said that the phone call took place in the spring of 2017. The college basketball world has been turned upside down over the last six months - and the drama continued this weekend.
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