Arizona Wildcats coach Sean Miller subject of Arizona Board of Regents meeting Thursday

The Arizona Board of Regents has scheduled a meeting on Thursday to receive legal advice about Arizona Wildcats basketball coach Sean Miller.

For those expecting the regents to make a decision about Miller's future, that won't happen. The 2 p.m. meeting in Phoenix is an executive session, meaning discussion will be closed to the public.

The board is expected to get legal advice and discuss the University of Arizona's basketball program, Miller and his contract.

Fallout at UA since ESPN's Sean Miller report

The Wildcats' basketball program has been in disarray since ESPN reported last week that FBI wiretaps heard Miller talking with a sports agent about paying $100,000 to ensure star player Deandre Ayton signed with the Wildcats.

ESPN reported Friday that FBI wiretaps heard Miller talking with sports agent Christian Dawkins, who is a key figure in the federal investigation, about paying $100,000 to ensure star player Deandre Ayton signed with the Wildcats.

When the sports agent asked Miller if he should work with assistant coach Emanuel "Book" Richardson to finalize their agreement, Miller told the agent he should deal directly with him when it came to money, ESPN reported.

The ESPN report received national media attention, although some other sports writers have since questioned various aspects of the story.

Miller and the university agreed he wouldn't coach against the University of Oregon Saturday night. He issued a statement before the game, saying "I continue to fully support the university's efforts to fully investigate this matter and am confident that I will be vindicated."

What could this mean?

The regents oversee the three state universities, including the University of Arizona, and are responsible for the multiple-year employment contracts of coaches.

The board doesn't vote to fire a coach. The regents vote on contract terms when a university hires a coach for multiple years. But the signed contract is between the university president and the coach. In this case, it's between Miller and UA President Robert C. Robbins.

On Wednesday, reporters in Tucson caught up to Robbins while he was at a golf tournament and questioned him about the coach's status. Robbins revealed little, but said the last five days had been about "doing a lot of talking. What I'm trying to do is just gather facts."

A television camera captured Robbins saying "he had no idea" whether Miller would be at McKale Center for the Wildcats game against Stanford on Thursday. "I have to go back and figure out what's going on."

In the recent firings of Arizona State University's Todd Graham and Arizona's Rich Rodriguez, the regents did not vote on their fate. The buyouts were announced by the universities.

Miller is such a high-profile coach, though, that it's likely the board wants to be informed of what's going on. The 49-year-old coach earns $2.6 million a year and has a contract that runs through May 31, 2022.

This is the second meeting the regents have scheduled since the ESPN report broke last week. Saturday's meeting was an emergency executive session — a highly unusual gathering — to get legal advice and discuss UA basketball.

After Saturday's meeting, Regents President Bill Ridenour released a statement saying the board is "very concerned" by the allegations in the media reports.

"This is an emotionally charged issue, but it is essential that we move forward decisively and based on facts," he said in the statement. "We must do everything we can to ensure that our programs are of the highest caliber as we must also protect the rights of all involved and respect due process for employees.

Deandre Ayton cleared, questions linger

Ayton was cleared by the university to play. His family released a statement through their attorney Saturday evening that said they were "outraged and disgusted" by news reports that have falsely implied he or his family were involved in corrupt behavior.

The Wildcats' season has been overshadowed by the ongoing FBI investigation and has hurt their recruiting.

Miller's long-time assistant, Emanuel "Book" Richardson, was arrested in late September and later indicted on federal and fraud bribery charges.

He's accused of accepting $20,000 in bribes, purportedly to steer players to a particular management company when those players turned pro. He has entered a plea of not guilty in federal court. The university suspended Richardson after the arrest and fired him in January.

Richardson was one of eight individuals indicted in a wide-ranging FBI investigation into the criminal influence of money on NCAA coaches and student athletes. Four of the individuals were assistant coaches. The others were an an Adidas executive, an Adidas consultant, an apparel company owner and Dawkins, the sports agent.

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Reach the reporter at 602-444-8072 or anne.ryman@arizonarepublic.com.