CRONKITE SPORTS

Attention remains on Arizona basketball as investigation continues

Oct 13, 2017, 8:03 PM

University of Arizona men’s basketball coach Sean Miller. (Photo by Eric Newman/Cronkite News)....

University of Arizona men’s basketball coach Sean Miller. (Photo by Eric Newman/Cronkite News).

(Photo by Eric Newman/Cronkite News)

PHOENIX — College basketball returns on Nov. 10.

What does not is several assistant coaches who have been arrested on charges of bribery. Instead of being on basketball courts with their teams, they’ll appear in federal court a day earlier for a preliminary hearing.

Among those programs that will be short an assistant is Arizona. Emanuel “Book” Richardson appeared in court on Tuesday afternoon and was released on a $100,000 bond. Four others also appeared: USC’s Tony Bland, Auburn’s Chuck Person, Adidas executive Merl Code and clothing company owner Rashan Michel.

Meanwhile, the Wildcats were selected to finish first in the Pac-12 by conference media. The preseason ranking was announced Thursday at Pac-12 media day in San Francisco, which was Miller’s second public appearance following the FBI investigation. He refused to answer questions about the situation.

“I’m going to stand by the statement that I gave,” Miller said each time he was asked.

Arizona is facing adversity again. On top of losing Richardson, starting forward Rawle Alkins broke his foot on the same day of the arrest, sidelining him for 8-12 weeks.

Allonzo Trier, who faced his own adversity last season, said the team is focusing on the present.

“We’re gonna focus on what we can control now and that’s how much better we can get every day in practice,” Trier said. “We have an understanding in our program that when we’re faced with adversity or someone goes down, it’s ‘next man up.’ ”

In response to allegations against the assistant coaches, the NCAA has implemented a Commission on College Basketball. The commission was established by the NCAA Board of Governors, Division I Board of Directors and NCAA president Mark Emmert.

The commission will be led by former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and was formed to evaluate the current culture of college basketball and “examine critical aspects of a system that clearly is not working,” Emmert said in a statement.

The commission will be focusing on three specific areas:

The relationship that the NCAA and its member institutions/student-athletes have with outside entities.

The relationship between the NCAA and NBA, specifically examining the “one and done” rules impact on college basketball and how the NCAA can change its rules to address the matter.

Cultivating a relationship between universities and the NCAA so there is transparency and accountability.  

“We must take decisive action. This is not a time for half-measures or incremental change,” Emmert said. “We need to do right by student-athletes. I believe we can – and we must – find a way to protect the integrity of college sports by addressing both sides of the coin: fairness and opportunity for college athletes, coupled with the enforcement capability to hold accountable those who undermine the standards of our community.”

Richardson was accompanied into the lower Manhattan courthouse earlier this week by his wife, Erin, lawyers David F. Axelrod and Craig Mordock, and friends. Accusations against Richardson include claims he took money from outside sources and used part of it to provide benefits to players or prospects.

One of the prospects believed to have been bribed was New Jersey’s five-star point guard Jahvon Quinerly. He was not named outright in the FBI report, but the timeline and details of “Player-5” are consistent with Quinerly’s recruitment process. Quinerly, a Wildcat recruit, committed to play basketball for the program in August.

On Saturday, ESPN’s Jeff Borzello reported that Quinerly’s family had hired lawyer Alan Milstein. Milstein represented Maurice Clarett in 2004 in the fight against NFL age minimum.

When interviewed by ESPN, Quinerly declined to address if he had been offered or had accepted bribes by Richardson. However, he did say he still intends to play basketball for Miller.

“For now, I’m committed,” Quinerly told ESPN. Quinerly also stated that he had not had any contact with Richardson following the news of the scandal, but he has been in contact with Miller.

The scandal appears to have turned off other prospects from choosing Tucson as their next home. Bol Bol, the 7-foot-3 son of Manute Bol, said Saturday that his final two schools are Oregon and Kentucky. In an interview with Scout.com, he said he would rather stay away from schools that are undergoing investigation.

Focus now is on Miller and other head coaches because of NCAA bylaw 11.1.1.1 that went into effect Aug, 1, 2013, and stated that head coaches are presumed responsible for the actions of assistant coaches. This could mean Miller would catch heat for Richardson’s part in the scandal, unless they can “rebut the presumption of responsibility,” according to the bylaw.

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