ASU’s Hurley on Arizona scandal: A ‘dark cloud’ over college basketball

As the Arizona Wildcats wait to see the potential ramifications of the FBI’s investigation into their recruiting and the reports surrounding it, so too does the rest of the college basketball world.

It’s unclear as to the scope of how many teams will be affected by the investigation, or how deep it goes.

What it does do, though, is put college basketball in a difficult spot, something Arizona State head coach Bobby Hurley recognized Wednesday.

“It’s a dark time, it’s a dark cloud over a sport that’s been so good to me,” he said. “It’s sad what’s happening. There’s a lot of people impacted, programs impacted.”

Hurley called Sean Miller an “outstanding coach” and said he couldn’t go too deep on the subject.

The scandal comes after a report from ESPN’s Mark Schlabach last Friday said Miller was allegedly recorded on an FBI wiretap discussing a payment of $100,000 to ensure a commitment from now-freshman Deandre Ayton.

Hurley isn’t the only head coach in the conference to speak on the report.

Washington head coach Mike Hopkins has doubted the report, asking for the proper evidence to be presented of Miller allegedly being recorded, a recording that Schlabach did not hear himself and cited an anonymous source in hearing.

“Everybody is talking about this tape of Sean Miller, well, where is it?” He said. “Has anybody listened to it? He can’t coach because somebody said that it exists?

“And if it is (in existence), he shouldn’t be coaching. But if it’s not then where is it?”

Ayton, meanwhile, is still eligible. He had 28 points in the Wildcats’ loss to Oregon last Saturday.

The Arizona Board of Regents will meet Thursday for a “discussion regarding University of Arizona men’s basketball and the multiple-year employment contract” of Miller.

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