The sourcing of an ESPN report that claims Wildcats Head Coach Sean Miller discussed a $100,000 payment to bring Deandre Ayton to Arizona is being called into question.
Mark Schlabach reported Friday that FBI wiretaps intercepted telephone conversations between Miller and Christian Dawkins, a runner for an agent, discussed that payment to ensure Ayton sign with the Wildcats.
The report sighted sources familiar with the government's evidence. But a tweet from Schlabach Sunday night appears to admit he never heard the wiretaps, and that his source is not within the FBI, but one of the defendants involved in the case.
The tweet said:
Outside counsel Paul Kelly said law firms working for Arizona don't have access to FBI wiretaps & haven't been told what's in them. "Those items are subject to a court-imposed protective order, and only the charged defendants have access to those materials," Kelly told ESPN.
Paul Kelly is the Boston attorney hired as outside counsel for the University of Arizona to investigate the FBI matter.
Kelly released a statement Sunday regarding Deandre Ayton. He says the allegations against Ayton accepting a bribe to play at Arizona are false and unfounded.
