In a phone call that was intercepted by the FBI, former Arizona associate head coach Emanuel ‘Book’ Richardson told former runner and basketball middleman Christian Dawkins that Arizona head coach Sean Miller had agreed to pay, and possibly already was paying, $10,000 a month for Deandre Ayton, the first pick in the 2018 NBA Draft.
The call was played in federal court on Wednesday morning. Dawkins and Richardson were discussing the possibility of Dawkins landing Ayton as a client for his financial management business when the topic of Miller came up.
“You know what he bought per month,” Richardson said, according to Yahoo Sports, of the agreement he believed Ayton and Miller had.
“What he do?” Dawkins asked.
“I told you, 10.”
“He’s putting up some real money for them [expletive]. He told me he’s getting killed.”
“But that’s his fault,” Richardson said.
Dawkins also said that Miller was handling Rawle Alkins, who played for Arizona last season. On the tap, Dawkins says, “Sean’s taking care of Rawle and them,” as the two discussed that the $20,000 payment Dawkins made to Richardson did not need to be used on Alkins. That money was allegedly earmarked for the family of Jahvon Quinerly, a five-star point guard that was committed to but then decommitted from Arizona after the scandal broke. Quinerly enrolled at Villanova and played there this season, but he has since announced his intention to transfer.
