TUCSON, Ariz. - A federal judge ruled Friday that Arizona Wildcats basketball coach Sean Miller will not testify in an upcoming college basketball bribery trial.
Pete Brush, a Law360 reporter who covers New York courts, tweeted about the ruling Friday.
Question of whether Arizona men's coach Sean Miller paid his players is "irrelevant" to bribery charges against former hoops consultants Christian Dawkins and Merl Code, NYC federal judge says
— Pete Brush (@PeteBrush) April 19, 2019
Ramos will ruled that neither Miller nor LSU basketball coach Will Wade will be called to the stand in the trial of Christian Dawkins and former Adidas consultant Merl Code, who are on trial on bribery charges.
Both suspects allegedly bribed five assistant coaches from six universities in an attempt to the players to eventually sign with Dawkins agency and financial advisers.
Steven Haney, the lead counsel for Dawkins, subpoenaed Miller and Wade "to elicit testimony from the subpoenaed coaches about their involvement in NCAA rule-breaking by paying student athletes" and the "defense may resort in this trial to arguments that pose a risk of attempting to garner the sympathy of the jury."
Prosecutors countered with a motion that the coaches' testimony would be irrelevant. The judge decided in favor of the motion.
LSU suspended Wade for the postseason before reinstating him.
In January, former UA assistant Emmanuel "Book" Richardson pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bribery and faces as many as 24 months in prison.
"When all the smoke clears and eventually it will clear Arizona will be back to maybe not to the degree that it was, but inch there little by little," said Sports Columnist Steve Rivera.
For the past three decades, Rivera has covered the Wildcats. He say the news is a step in the right direction and fans can now focus on the nation's top ranked recruiting class coming in this Fall.
For longtime U of A basketball supporter George Kalil, he and the Wildcat community have stood behind Coach Miller during this entire process.
"I'm personally glad to see that Miller has maintained the kind of discipline that he has," Kalil said. "I'm glad he's staying, I'm glad he's here to make things happened for us, for him and for everybody."
Students at U of A are already looking forward to what's expected to be a winning season. "If the basketball team does well this year, it will help the campus come together and have some that we are all proud of," said Freshman Drew Griffin. Fellow freshman John Muhler said he is expected to see the electric atmosphere in the McKale Center led by Coach Miller, "Sean Miller is kind of like Tiger Woods, he has that comeback fever."
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