Nike funneled payments to Deandre Ayton

[DWKB]

Plus BOL BOL and Brandon McCoy per AAU coach.

https://syndication.bleacherreport....unneled-payments-to-recruits-parents.amp.html

 

[GatorAZ]

*Funneled to Ayton’s mother

 

[Russ Smith]

I've said it elsewhere I think this actually helps Miller. If true, you can make the argument that it's much easier to defend Miller taking Ayton and much easier to defend the notion Miller didn't know this. Remember Ayton not only told Arizona he never took any money from anybody, they said they told the FBI the same thing, more than once. Both he and his mom insisted they never took any money from anybody trying to steer him. Unless the mom was REALLY clever and went out of her way to say I never took any money to go to a particular school, I didn't say I never took any money, and that's not what she said publicly, she appears to have lied to the FBI.

So if you're Sean Miller it's a bit easier to say look I didn't pay the kid, if they did get money I didn't know anything about it and as you can see they told us they didn't and that appears to be a lie, they even lied to the FBI about it, how can you possibly expect me to know if they were being this dishonest about it?

Right now it appears Ayton got paid by Adidas to go to Kansas, by Nike to go to Arizona, and there was lots of innuendo they were being paid while in San Diego by people who just wanted a piece of the future and weren't at the time actively steering him anywhere.

You could easily make the case he should have been ineligible and make arizona forfeit those games but I think this stuff being proven with receipts etc almost makes it easier for Miller. So far all we have on tape is Book saying Miller paid him, we still never got anything close to what Schlabach said was there.

To be clear I'm not saying I think Miller is innocent, didn't know, or that I don't think Arizona was getting recruits steered to them. I think that was going on and I fully believe Miller knew it, I fully expect Arizona to get hit by the NCAA and think they should. But i think it's much easier to defend them on the Ayton stuff if it is true the family was taking money from multiple people. Remember based on what Arizona people have reported Ayton was supposed to be the somewhat naive kid who was somewhat new to the whole Amateur stuff, I never was convinced he was supposed to be that guy but that's still the claim from Arizona insiders, in the original FBI case that's him. It appears if that is true, his mom and others around him sure caught on quickly, we can get paid, lots of money, from multiple sources.

 

[GatorAZ]

I've said it elsewhere I think this actually helps Miller. If true, you can make the argument that it's much easier to defend Miller taking Ayton and much easier to defend the notion Miller didn't know this. Remember Ayton not only told Arizona he never took any money from anybody, they said they told the FBI the same thing, more than once. Both he and his mom insisted they never took any money from anybody trying to steer him. Unless the mom was REALLY clever and went out of her way to say I never took any money to go to a particular school, I didn't say I never took any money, and that's not what she said publicly, she appears to have lied to the FBI.

So if you're Sean Miller it's a bit easier to say look I didn't pay the kid, if they did get money I didn't know anything about it and as you can see they told us they didn't and that appears to be a lie, they even lied to the FBI about it, how can you possibly expect me to know if they were being this dishonest about it?

Right now it appears Ayton got paid by Adidas to go to Kansas, by Nike to go to Arizona, and there was lots of innuendo they were being paid while in San Diego by people who just wanted a piece of the future and weren't at the time actively steering him anywhere.

You could easily make the case he should have been ineligible and make arizona forfeit those games but I think this stuff being proven with receipts etc almost makes it easier for Miller. So far all we have on tape is Book saying Miller paid him, we still never got anything close to what Schlabach said was there.

To be clear I'm not saying I think Miller is innocent, didn't know, or that I don't think Arizona was getting recruits steered to them. I think that was going on and I fully believe Miller knew it, I fully expect Arizona to get hit by the NCAA and think they should. But i think it's much easier to defend them on the Ayton stuff if it is true the family was taking money from multiple people. Remember based on what Arizona people have reported Ayton was supposed to be the somewhat naive kid who was somewhat new to the whole Amateur stuff, I never was convinced he was supposed to be that guy but that's still the claim from Arizona insiders, in the original FBI case that's him. It appears if that is true, his mom and others around him sure caught on quickly, we can get paid, lots of money, from multiple sources.

He wouldn’t be the first high ranked amateur to have parents taking money. If Ayton told the FBI/NCAA he didn’t take money he’s not lying unless the cash was handed to him. It’s been verified he had a lot of handlers and moved around quite a bit likely attracting some selfish people around him. We don’t know him personally but he comes off as a little kid in a grown man’s body. At the time of the family getting paid how many 16 year olds with his maturity level demand their parents to stop taking bribes? That’s if he even knew in the first place. I’m guessing he saw the benefits of financial upgrades that his family received. Maybe a house or paid off debt. I just highly doubt he was directly involved unless he’s pulling one over in everyone.

Assuming the payments to his mom are true I wouldn’t have a problem with that season being vacated. Hell the way it ended I think most AZ fans wouldn’t care anyway.

Everything with Miller still revolves around Book. He said damning things on tape but considering there’s zero concrete evidence Miller paid anyone after being under investigation he was either lying or exaggerating. Book later came out and stated he had no knowledge of Miller paying or attempting to pay anyone. I’m sure he relayed that to the NCAA in their investigation.

 

[Russ Smith]

He wouldn’t be the first high ranked amateur to have parents taking money. If Ayton told the FBI/NCAA he didn’t take money he’s not lying unless the cash was handed to him. It’s been verified he had a lot of handlers and moved around quite a bit likely attracting some selfish people around him. We don’t know him personally but he comes off as a little kid in a grown man’s body. At the time of the family getting paid how many 16 year olds with his maturity level demand their parents to stop taking bribes? That’s if he even knew in the first place. I’m guessing he saw the benefits of financial upgrades that his family received. Maybe a house or paid off debt. I just highly doubt he was directly involved unless he’s pulling one over in everyone.

Assuming the payments to his mom are true I wouldn’t have a problem with that season being vacated. Hell the way it ended I think most AZ fans wouldn’t care anyway.

Everything with Miller still revolves around Book. He said damning things on tape but considering there’s zero concrete evidence Miller paid anyone after being under investigation he was either lying or exaggerating. Book later came out and stated he had no knowledge of Miller paying or attempting to pay anyone. I’m sure he relayed that to the NCAA in their investigation.

Yeah I'm not saying Ayton is bad he certainly isn't the only kid in that situation who took the money. I don't believe he didn't know I just don't think it's possible for a family to hide that level of money from their kid. He may not have directly gotten the money but I'm sure he knew his parents and handlers were getting it. I don't even fault him for apparently lying to the feds about it, at that age I'd be scared too, I'd probably lie if I thought I was going to get my family in legal trouble.

That's how the game is played. I do think it helps Millers' defense, he probably shouldn't do it, throwing a kid under the bus probably would harm his ability to recruit in the future, but it'd be pretty easy to say given how many people were paying this kid and that he denied it while talking to the feds, why would you believe I was paying him myself?

I think UA gets hit, I think Miller is probably indirectly named but not likely to get a show cause I think if they had that level of evidence they'd have already gone after him.

I can't find the full statement but the most common one you find says Ayton "DeAndre directly stated to the FBI, more than six months ago, that he never discussed or solicited payments from the University of Arizona." You can argue that's carefully worded, it doesn't say I didn't get money, it says I didn't discuss or solicit payments from Arizona. Says nothing about Nike, Adidas, or even Sean Miller. He did say he wanted ESPN, the NCAA and the FBI to make public statements clearing his name, and none of them has done so.

I think his family got money, he knew, he probably got money at Arizona, do I think Miller was dumb enough to hand him 10K a month, probably not. Do I think someone was paying him and Miller knew, yes.

I just think the more stuff that comes out that makes Ayton look like he was dishonest, the better it is for Miller, it makes it easier to say if he was getting paid, I didn't know about it.