Former Arizona assistant Emmanuel “Book” Richardson was caught on federal wiretap telling aspiring agent Christian Dawkins that Wildcats head coach Sean Miller was paying star freshman Deandre Ayton $10,000 per month while he was enrolled there.
Here is an excerpt from ESPN:
While talking about Ayton, Richardson told Dawkins, “Sean’s got to get the [expletive] out of the way and let us work.”
“We’ll see how Sean plays it out,” Dawkins said.
“You know what he bought per month?” Richardson asked.
“What he do?” Dawkins asked.
“I told you — 10,” Richardson replied.
“He’s putting up some real money for them [expletive],” Dawkins responded. “He told me he’s getting killed.”
“But that’s his fault,” Richardson said.
During the same call, Richardson and Dawkins discussed how much Richardson would be paid each month by Dawkins’ new sports management agency.
“You already know Sean is taking care of Rawle (Alkins) and them,” Dawkins said.
ESPN reported in February 2018 that FBI wiretaps intercepted a call between Dawkins and Miller, in which the Arizona coach discussed a $100,000 payment that secured Ayton’s commitment to the Wildcats. At the time, Miller disputed the report and denied ever paying a recruit to sign with Arizona.
