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Very bad news...

The Derski

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Now people are wondering if Byrne bolting to Alabama is just a coincidence.

PGU mysteriously shutting down has also been mentioned. Apparently Book Richardson and ACE were closer than people think? Sharing a lot of inside info... This whole thing has my brain and heart in knots.
 

CatsTopPac

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Now people are wondering if Byrne bolting to Alabama is just a coincidence.

PGU mysteriously shutting down has also been mentioned. Apparently Book Richardson and ACE were closer than people think? Sharing a lot of inside info... This whole thing has my brain and heart in knots.

Yeah, the FBI said they started the investigation back in 2015. Byrne leaves in Jan, PGU goes down in Feb, and Romar is hired in April. Seems real coincidental if they are mutually exclusive from each other. Again, I don't know, but that's shady as shit.

I'm done with Arizona basketball and CBB to be honest. I never thought I'd say that because I've been such a big fan over the decades, but this is too much by a long shot. When UNC and 'Ville were going through their shit, I always wondered how clean AZ was, hoping they were doing it right. Not only are they dirty, but corruption and fraud. The fucking feds. Fuck these guys. Fuck all of it. So many people are making so much money off these kids, and aside from AZ's role, I just didn't realize it was to this extent. Once the FBI starts going after all of these white collar fucks they'll be singing like a fucking songbird. All of it is about to come out. Shit, CBB is about to take a massive hit, imo. I don't see how 'Ville escapes the death penalty.

I don't know what Miller or anyone else knew, and I don't know if (or when?) the FBI tried at all to contact Book and Miller or Byrne found out, etc. But I'm a big believer that a head coach knows what is going on in their program, especially in a basketball university town.

Book is going to prison with the others, and I think NCAA comes down hard on at least a lack of institutional control and failure to create and enforce an atmosphere of compliance. It also had to do with recruiting so I'd say at least 3 years of scholly reduction, tourney bans, and vacated wins. I think Miller is gone on his own if nothing happens to him, or is paid out by the university and cut ties. AZ might very well be left with Romar and no recruits, with a huge black eye.

And honestly, I don't care if it all blows over and is alright and we win the NC next year. This shit is shady as fuck. I always hoped that it was a smaller deal than it is, and that AZ was better than that. And it seems that it's just a matter of time until any team is found to be fucked up, or they were shady in the past and hopefully it's been long enough.

The universities, the agents, the shoe companies, the sports stations, sponsors, and the NCAA are all a bunch of crooks and it's all a racket. I don't even like football but I'm sure this is happening from football all the way down as far as the money goes in NCAA sports. I've been uneasy about it over the last few years in general, and this makes me sick as fuck. Book broke my fucking heart.
 

The Derski

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Yeah, the FBI said they started the investigation back in 2015. Byrne leaves in Jan, PGU goes down in Feb, and Romar is hired in April. Seems real coincidental if they are mutually exclusive from each other. Again, I don't know, but that's shady as shit.

I'm done with Arizona basketball and CBB to be honest. I never thought I'd say that because I've been such a big fan over the decades, but this is too much by a long shot. When UNC and 'Ville were going through their shit, I always wondered how clean AZ was, hoping they were doing it right. Not only are they dirty, but corruption and fraud. The fucking feds. Fuck these guys. Fuck all of it. So many people are making so much money off these kids, and aside from AZ's role, I just didn't realize it was to this extent. Once the FBI starts going after all of these white collar fucks they'll be singing like a fucking songbird. All of it is about to come out. Shit, CBB is about to take a massive hit, imo. I don't see how 'Ville escapes the death penalty.

I don't know what Miller or anyone else knew, and I don't know if (or when?) the FBI tried at all to contact Book and Miller or Byrne found out, etc. But I'm a big believer that a head coach knows what is going on in their program, especially in a basketball university town.

Book is going to prison with the others, and I think NCAA comes down hard on at least a lack of institutional control and failure to create and enforce an atmosphere of compliance. It also had to do with recruiting so I'd say at least 3 years of scholly reduction, tourney bans, and vacated wins. I think Miller is gone on his own if nothing happens to him, or is paid out by the university and cut ties. AZ might very well be left with Romar and no recruits, with a huge black eye.

And honestly, I don't care if it all blows over and is alright and we win the NC next year. This shit is shady as fuck. I always hoped that it was a smaller deal than it is, and that AZ was better than that. And it seems that it's just a matter of time until any team is found to be fucked up, or they were shady in the past and hopefully it's been long enough.

The universities, the agents, the shoe companies, the sports stations, sponsors, and the NCAA are all a bunch of crooks and it's all a racket. I don't even like football but I'm sure this is happening from football all the way down as far as the money goes in NCAA sports. I've been uneasy about it over the last few years in general, and this makes me sick as fuck. Book broke my fucking heart.
Certainly very sad indeed. I always figured Miller would never risk his reputation doing stuff like this considering the outrageous control freak that he is. Doesn't look good when your top assistant of 11 years is caught up in this shit.

This season was supposed to have the highest expectations perhaps ever at UA and now who the fuck knows what's going to happen. So sad and angry. NCAA is slimy as fuck. This investigation is going to take forever.
 

gordontrue

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Sucks. I don't feel like I know enough about what really happened yet, though. So much of the news coverage is focusing on Louisville.

So far, what I've heard about Richardson's part... it sounds like he was taking money for himself in exchange for using his influence with the kids to push them towards certain financial advisors and agents.

If that's what it was, that's shady on Richardson's part but not something that in my mind extends to the University.

If, however, this involves UofA players essentially getting paid in order to come to Arizona... that changes everything for me. That would fall on the head of Sean Miller.
 

CatsTopPac

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Sucks. I don't feel like I know enough about what really happened yet, though. So much of the news coverage is focusing on Louisville.

So far, what I've heard about Richardson's part... it sounds like he was taking money for himself in exchange for using his influence with the kids to push them towards certain financial advisors and agents.

If that's what it was, that's shady on Richardson's part but not something that in my mind extends to the University.

If, however, this involves UofA players essentially getting paid in order to come to Arizona... that changes everything for me. That would fall on the head of Sean Miller.

It's worse. I'm hearing a lot of different talk that Ayton was involved. Worse, Richardson did give some of that money to Quinerly, which ties directly to paying recruits. Also, Pasternack might be involved, and Miller might have allowed that Dawkins guy to a practice. More and more that says it's difficult for Miller to say he didn't know.

I'm still waiting to see what more the FBI says, because there are always a lot of rumors right after major news breaks. all of that being said, I just cannot accept that these HCs don't know. As much as I try to give Miller the benefit of the doubt, I'm just waiting for more and more to come out that shows he knew to whatever extent.

Again, if I were Miller and I didn't know, based on how many of the 'rogue assistants' there seems to bee all over CBB, I would have done absolutely everything I could to make sure I protected my program. It's just too much for me to believe that his top assistant was giving money to players and Miller was oblivious.

Recapping the Book Richardson fiasco
 

gordontrue

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It's worse. I'm hearing a lot of different talk that Ayton was involved. Worse, Richardson did give some of that money to Quinerly, which ties directly to paying recruits. Also, Pasternack might be involved, and Miller might have allowed that Dawkins guy to a practice. More and more that says it's difficult for Miller to say he didn't know.

I'm still waiting to see what more the FBI says, because there are always a lot of rumors right after major news breaks. all of that being said, I just cannot accept that these HCs don't know. As much as I try to give Miller the benefit of the doubt, I'm just waiting for more and more to come out that shows he knew to whatever extent.

Again, if I were Miller and I didn't know, based on how many of the 'rogue assistants' there seems to bee all over CBB, I would have done absolutely everything I could to make sure I protected my program. It's just too much for me to believe that his top assistant was giving money to players and Miller was oblivious.

Recapping the Book Richardson fiasco

Shit. Thanks for the info. I was so pumped for this year, now suddenly I'm left not knowing whether I even want to be a fan.
 

Arizona_Sting

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@Arizona_Sting

Yo man, whadda ya say about all this?

Very upsetting news, when I first read it my heart just sank... BUT I am not surprised if we're being honest. Not speaking on AZ specifically, just by CBB & the NCAA in general.

The NCAA is a shady, shady business and I truly believe this type of thing happens at practically every major program, and I don't completely blame the programs for it either. This system is and has been set up for failure for a while now. Like many reporters have already said, this is just the tip of the iceberg of a much, much larger story. Sports agencies & shoe companies reps contain a bunch of scum bags, add that with how shady the NCAA is along with the rules set in place and you're going to find corruption. I just hate that it impacts the players, and with the FBI in charge, not the NCAA, I think these punishments will be harsh because it's not their product whereas the NCAA would just give these programs a slap on the wrist (if that).

I'll wait for all the details to come out before picking a direction as far as my fandom goes, but hearing this news before the start of the season that I had been most excited for in my entire lifetime just really killed my mood. I'll selfishly say I hope no one on this year's team is impacted & that our punishment (if we get one) won't take place until the following year. If we land a postseason ban and lose a couple of our commits, and forfeit wins in the process I may take some time away from caring about UofA Basketball.
 

CatsTopPac

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Very upsetting news, when I first read it my heart just sank... BUT I am not surprised if we're being honest. Not speaking on AZ specifically, just by CBB & the NCAA in general.

The NCAA is a shady, shady business and I truly believe this type of thing happens at practically every major program, and I don't completely blame the programs for it either. This system is and has been set up for failure for a while now. Like many reporters have already said, this is just the tip of the iceberg of a much, much larger story. Sports agencies & shoe companies reps contain a bunch of scum bags, add that with how shady the NCAA is along with the rules set in place and you're going to find corruption. I just hate that it impacts the players, and with the FBI in charge, not the NCAA, I think these punishments will be harsh because it's not their product whereas the NCAA would just give these programs a slap on the wrist (if that).

I'll wait for all the details to come out before picking a direction as far as my fandom goes, but hearing this news before the start of the season that I had been most excited for in my entire lifetime just really killed my mood. I'll selfishly say I hope no one on this year's team is impacted & that our punishment (if we get one) won't take place until the following year. If we land a postseason ban and lose a couple of our commits, and forfeit wins in the process I may take some time away from caring about UofA Basketball.

Yeah, this shit's pretty fucked up. And in March Lute's statue will be finished. Fucking sad. They fucked up so much good he's done for the university, city, state, the Pac.... Fuck. It's not the end of the world, but this shit was a big part of my upbringing, my family, a shitload of my friends and I over the years. I've gone to AZ for a decade. I feel like a fool; so disappointed. I thought what Jason Terry did was the worst thing that's happened in Tucson.

I saw what was going on around the game and I asked myself what would I do if Miller set up some shit classes, or had prostitutes, or even approached me if I had one of his players as a student. I'd tell him to go fuck himself, and I'd probably do it balling my eyes out. AZ basketball was home for me when I was deployed. My fucking platoon called me Wildcat.

I'm interested in the details because I want to know what happened, how it happened. Book just dropped McKale on its head. I don't know if Miller knew or not, but how can he be the state's highest employee and not have a clue that his right hand man for a decade was buying players under his nose? If everyone across CBB on the inside knew, how is Miller that clueless? I don't buy it in Syracuse, Louisville, Chapel Hill, or Tucson.

But you're right, if Adidas is pulling strings at the places we know, they're doing it at places yet to be uncovered. That FBI agent saying it's better for people who know to call them before they get a call was such a classic line. We're not talking about criminals with oaths of silence and shit. These bastards are about to rip the top off this shit. If Adidas is doing it, so is Nike. If both of those companies are doing it in basketball, you know they're doing it in football. If the FBI is halfway decent about uncovering something that 'everyone knows is going on', then this is going to crush the NCAA, athletic departments, and throw shit all over the shoe companies. We just have no idea how big it is, recruits could be influenced by NBA players on behalf of the shoe companies.

And instead of Book, Miller, etc. being primarily concerned with how to save this program which has given them so much, they are only concerned with saving their own asses.

I was about as stoked as you were for this year. I'm going to Guatemala in January for like 8 months and I was having serious anxiety about missing the best possibility for AZ to go to the FF in decades. And now I'm just done with it. I can't see how I can even go to another game. Hopefully I get over it, but I just can't see it right now.
 

gordontrue

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After letting emotions process a little bit... I'm gonna stand back and wait before I do anything rash.

So far we have some pretty damning evidence that Book took bribes to steer UofA players towards financial investors. (Pretty damning because he took bribes from undercover FBI agents).

The other 2 things are just he said - she said.

1. An adidas agent told another school that UofA offered $150k to a player. Who knows if that's true... could've been posturing/negotiation tactic.

2. An agent claimed that he's great friends with UofA staff and can attend practices as if he's one of the team. Again, this could just be posturing/boasting to sell himself as someone with connections.

I'm not ready to give up completely on my trust for Sean Miller or my fanhood until I have a lot more information.
 
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Now people are wondering if Byrne bolting to Alabama is just a coincidence.

PGU mysteriously shutting down has also been mentioned. Apparently Book Richardson and ACE were closer than people think? Sharing a lot of inside info... This whole thing has my brain and heart in knots.

PGU shut down?! Lol. I never liked those pricks anyways. What a black cloud this has cast over college basketball. And of course this would happen right before the most anticipated basketball season in a long time.
 
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