Sean Miller has been fired as head coach of the Arizona men’s basketball team, sources told ESPN.
Miller had been in Tucson since 2009, leading the Wildcats to seven NCAA tournaments and three appearances in the Elite Eight. Arizona won at least a portion of five Pac-12 regular season championships under Miller.
Miller had one year left on his contract.
Arizona had been caught up in the 2017 federal investigation into college basketball corruption. Former assistant coach Emanuel “Book” Richardson pleaded guilty to a conspiracy to bribe after being accused of accepting $ 20,000 to direct Arizona players to aspiring sports agent Christian Dawkins. During Dawkins’ trial, prosecutors made a call intercepted by the FBI in which Richardson told Dawkins that Miller was paying $ 10,000 a month for former player DeAndre Ayton. Miller has consistently denied paying players to attend Arizona.
The NCAA charged the school with five Level I infractions, according to a statement of allegations released last month. The program was affected by two alleged cases of academic misconduct, while Miller was accused of failing to demonstrate “that it promoted a compliance environment and supervised its staff.”
Arizona self-imposed a one-year postseason ban for last season.
Sources told ESPN that Arizona had been considering a contract extension for Miller, but the Board of Regents would not approve it due to ongoing NCAA issues.
Prior to taking over in Arizona, Miller had been Xavier’s head coach for five seasons, going to four NCAA tournaments and an Elite Eight.
One of the potential replacements that has emerged in recent days has been Gonzaga’s assistant coach Tommy Lloyd, sources told ESPN. Among the names that are set to link up with Arizona are Damon Stoudamire of Pacific, Josh Pastner of Georgia Tech and Miles Simon, assistant coach of the Los Angeles Lakers. BYU head coach Mark Pope had been linked to work earlier in the season, while Arkansas ’Eric Musselman is another name that could receive a call to assess interest.