Sean Miller Arizona scandal, explained: Revisiting FBI investigation that led to NCAA sanctions, coach's 2021 firing

For over two decades, Sean Miller has been a head coach at a prominent men's college basketball program.

Miller had two separate stints at Xavier, plus an NCAA Tournament run in his first year at Texas in 2025-26 — but what he may be most well-known for is his 12-year run with the Arizona Wildcats.

At Arizona, Miller guided his teams to three Elite Eights and another two Sweet 16s. But his time in Tucson also ended in some controversy — Miller was let go by the team in 2021 following a significant NCAA investigation into the Wildcats' program.

Here's everything to know about the scandal that led to Miller's exit from Arizona.

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Sean Miller-Arizona scandal timeline

Arizona was at the center of a 2017 federal investigation into corruption in college basketball. The repercussions of that investigation had effects on Miller and the program, and eventually, it led to the coach's 2021 departure.

Sean Miller-FBI investigation (2017)

In September 2017, the FBI announced the arrest of 10 individuals involved with either college basketball programs, or Adidas, for varying corruption and fraud charges, including bribery, money laundering and wire fraud. Schools impacted by those arrests included Louisville, Miami, Auburn, Oklahoma State, South Carolina and USC.

Also among the arrests was Arizona assistant coach Emmanuel "Book" Richardson. He was alleged to have met with an agent, Christian Dawkins, and others earlier in the year, agreeing to accept a $5,000 bribe to direct Arizona players to Dawkins' sports management company. Richardson was also charged with accepting $15,000 in bribes and paying at least one recruit to commit to the Wildcats. He was suspended by Arizona shortly after his arrest, then officially fired in January 2018.

During the investigation into Richardson, at a trial in February 2018, prosecutors played an FBI-intercepted call in which Richardson told Dawkins that Miller, the Arizona head coach at the time, was paying $10,000 per month for former college star center Deandre Ayton, per ESPN. Miller had repeatedly denied ever paying players to come to Arizona. Miller had also told Dawkins he should "deal directly with him when it came to money," per ESPN.  

Afterward, Arizona announced that Miller would not coach for the team's upcoming game against Oregon. However, after denying those pay-for-play allegations, Miller was reinstated as the Wildcats' coach and remained in this role.

Miller would remain Arizona's head coach through the 2020-21 season. However, in that final year, the Wildcats self-imposed a one-year postseason ban over the alleged recruiting violations and FBI scandal.

Who is Book Richardson?

Emanuel “Book” Richardson is a former college basketball coach who spent time at Arizona from 2009–17 under Miller. He had also been an assistant under Miller at Xavier.

In September 2017, Richardson was arrested by the FBI on federal bribery, fraud and other corruption charges. He was alleged to have met with agent Christian Dawkins and agreed to accept a bribe to direct Arizona players toward Dawkins’ company. Additionally, Richardson was accused of accepting other bribes and paying at least one recruit to join the Wildcats.

He was suspended by Arizona after his arrest, and after an appeal, Richardson was officially fired by the school in January 2018.

Sean Miller-NCAA investigation (2021)

Shortly before he was let go as Arizona's head coach in 2021, the NCAA charged Arizona with five Level I violations, per ESPN, and two alleged instances of academic misconduct. Miller was charged for not demonstrating "that he promoted an atmosphere for compliance and monitored his staff."

Arizona chose to part ways with Miller in April 2021, and he would take a year off from coaching before joining Xavier.

NCAA ruling

In December 2021, more than five years after the announcement of the federal investigation into the college basketball corruption, a ruling was released by the Independent Accountability Resolution Process.

In that ruling, Arizona was found to have committed a total of 10 violations, with six involving Miller’s program, per Tucson.com. Every Level I violation was assessed to Richardson; Miller was cleared of any responsibility as head coach. The Wildcats were not forced to impose any further postseason bans.

However, Arizona did receive a three-year probation and a fine of around $135,000, per Tucson.com. Richardson was hit with a 10-year show-cause order, former assistant Mark Phelps received a two-year show-cause, and Arizona was forced to vacate all regular-season and Pac-12 Tournament wins from the 2016-17 and 2017-18 seasons.

As for Miller, he was not penalized outside of 50 vacated wins from the 2016-17 and 2017-18 seasons being taken off his record.

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Was Sean Miller suspended for scandal?

Miller was not suspended by the NCAA and did not receive any personal sanctions in the investigation into Arizona’s academic misconduct and recruiting violations.

The final IARP report from the scandal cleared Miller of significant wrongdoing, while two of his former assistants were given long show-cause penalties. The report said Miller promoted “an atmosphere of compliance.”

“The hearing panel found no violation for the former head men’s basketball coach because the hearing panel determined that he promoted an atmosphere of compliance and monitored two of his assistant coaches regarding the academic eligibility of men’s basketball prospective student-athletes, rebutting the presumption of head coach responsibility,” the panel’s ruling stated, per ESPN.

Miller, who had already become Xavier’s head coach by the time the report was released, also put out a statement afterward.

"This has been a long journey and I am glad everything is finally finished," Miller's statement said, per ESPN. "I am excited to move forward. I'd like to thank my wife Amy and my entire family, [Xavier] President [Colleen Hanycz] and [athletic director] Greg Christopher for their support through the completion of this process."

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Sean Miller coaching timeline

Here's a look at each stop of Miller's head coaching career.

2004-09: Xavier

After spending over a decade as an assistant in the college coaching ranks, including stints at Wisconsin, Miami (OH), Pitt, NC State and Xavier, the Musketeers promoted Miller to head coach in 2004 after Thad Matta departed for Ohio State.

Miller guided Xavier to a 17-12 record in his first season, then improved the team's win total in each of the next three years. The Musketeers made four consecutive NCAA Tournaments under Miller from 2006-09, including a trip to the Elite Eight in 2008 and Sweet 16 in 2009.

2009-21: Arizona

After the 2009 NCAA Tournament, Miller left Xavier for Arizona. The Wildcats had been seeking to fill longtime coach Lute Olson's position for years, and after interim stints, they landed on Miller.

In his first season, Miller guided Arizona to a 16-15 record, and the team missed postseason play for the first time in 25 years. But it wasn't long before the Wildcats were on the national stage again — in 2010-11, they won the Pac-12 regular-season title, going 30-8 overall and reaching the Elite Eight.

After a down year in 2011-12, setting for an NIT bid, Arizona would make the NCAA Tournament in each of the next six years. Miller led the Wildcats to five Pac-12 regular season titles, three Pac-12 Tournament titles, also winning three Pac-12 Coach of the Year awards. 

In the NCAA Tournament, the Wildcats made two more Elite Eights, two Sweet 16s and had two first-round exits.

Miller's time at Arizona began to fall apart in the wake of the 2017 FBI investigation; after a 2017-18 NCAA Tournament bid, the Wildcats went 17-15 in 2018-19, missing the tournament. After no tournament was held in 2020, and a 17-9 record in 2020-21, Miller was fired.

2022-25: Xavier

After spending a year away from coaching, Miller returned to his previous school as head coach. In March 2022, he was hired by Xavier. 

In his first year back with the Musketeers, they went 27-10, finished as the runner-up in the Big East Tournament and made a run to the Sweet 16 for the ninth time in program history.

Xavier went 16-18 the next season, but then returned to the NCAA Tournament in 2025 after winning in the First Four. However, the team then fell in the first round.

2025-present: Texas

Miller found another high-profile head coaching job in March 2025, replacing Rodney Terry at Texas. 

In his first season, he's guided the Longhorns to a successful NCAA Tournament run as a No. 11 seed despite a 9-9 regular season record in SEC play. Miller became the first Texas head coach to get the Longhorns to the Sweet Sixteen his first season.

How long was Sean Miller at Arizona?

Miller spent 12 years at Arizona, leaving Xavier for the Wildcats in 2009, then being let go by the Wildcats following the 2020-21 season.

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Sean Miller coaching record

Here's a look at Miller's career record.

*Includes NCAA vacated wins

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