Sean Miller, the FBI Trial and the need for Accurate Reporting

The FBI trial regarding fraud and bribery continued on this week, and once again Sean Miller and Arizona was a top topic, along with other schools.

The College Basketball bribery and fraud trial has been quite the show for a while now, with Arizona head coach Sean Miller being a key focal point. While it surely hasn’t disappointed in terms of flash and glamour, on Wednesday, FBI recorded videos and wiretaps were played with all the world watching.

So, what did we see and hear? To be honest, not much, just a lot of Christian Dawkins interpretations and “hearsay”.

Arizona Wildcats

Before we get into this, let me start by saying we (the collective we being Arizona fans), 100 percent will back the potential firing of Miller, IF he is unequivocally and truly is guilty.

Personally, I’m not afraid to eat crow and admit when I am wrong, but for now, nothing that is present at this time indicates Miller did anything wrong. So, until that time, stop giving us tweets and news where a reporter clearly filled in the blank.

For now, as the case continues, proof and facts are important and paramount in a world of misinformation. Based on how our legal system works, there is such a thing as the presumption of innocence, unless anything truly damning were to remove all doubt.

I give you exhibit A – here’s a perfect example of a “reporter” (yes, we use this term loosely for someone is a “reporter” based on title only), twisting facts with pure, unsubstantiated garbage.

At no point in court today was there an FBI-recorded video of Miller saying he was paying Deandre Ayton’s family. However, the way Parrish worded this tweet insinuates that there was. No, what was actually played, was a video of Dawkins telling under cover agents what Miller had supposedly said.

Conveying, interpreting, “he said” are all far from actual proof of payments, or Miller indeed saying he paid Ayton’s family. The wiretap played in court didn’t even have Miller specifically talking about payments.

What Miller was recorded in saying, was that he was “taking care of everything” in regards to Ayton. That’s it, nothing else was heard on the recording. The bit about, “I wanna bring you in. I’ll turn everything over to you,” was Dawkins on video saying that is what Miller said.

Even on the stand, Martin Blazer, the FBI informant, said Dawkins told him this is what Miller meant. So again, no actual proof of Miller saying he made payments or will make payments, rather Dawkins’ word of mouth.

“Taking care of everything” could simply mean Miller is taking care of his recruitment, no one else, no help needed. When Miller made his first statement about all of this, he said Dawkins only spoke to him until after Deandre publicly announced. This occurred in late 2016, the wiretap played today was from June 2017, several months after Ayton had committed and was set to soon step on campus.

The only “evidence” we have related to Miller and paying Ayton/his family is from the mouth of Dawkins. Before it was simply he said/she said. With what transpired today in court, it still is simply he said/she said, but this time with wiretap and video proof that it was only Dawkins telling people that Miller said or did something.

What I want and what we need, which is probably too much to ask for, is accurate reporting. The same people referencing Matt Norlander, who did a good job of playing out exactly what happened in court, are the same ones taking Matt’s notes and filling in their thoughts and words.

Again, we’re just trying to distinguish between what ACTUALLY happened, and what’s been said, because those things are certainly not the same. If that’s us ‘living in denial’, as Gary Parrish puts it, then I guess we’ll wear that badge of honor proudly as “illogical fans”, rather than allow “reporters” to continue to fail at doing their job. As always, Bear Down, Arizona!