This summer, each member of the Star’s sports team will count down the five most memorable Arizona games they’ve covered since joining the beat. This week's participant: Bruce Pascoe. Here's No. 1 — Arizona Wildcats' spirited play not enough on…
Bruce Pascoe This summer, each member of the Star's sports team will assemble a list of the five most memorable Arizona games they've covered since joining the beat. This week, Bruce Pascoe will reflect on five UA basketball games.What went down: After ESPN reported that then-coach Sean Miller discussed allegedly paying star center Deandre Ayton $100,000 a year on Feb. 23, 2018, a Friday, Miller sat out the next day's game at Oregon.
It was a loss, but considering the controversy that has enveloped the Arizona program in the previous 24 hours, associate head coach Lorenzo Romar found a particular spirit to it. Miller was allegedly caught on a federal wiretap discussing a $100,000 payment to Ayton, according to an ESPN report Friday, and Oregon fans booed him nearly every time he touched the ball. Students had signs referencing the"100 Grand" candy bar and a check payable to him, while some rubbed their thumbs and fingers together in a"pay up" sort of gesture.
"It's very tough," Romar said."Our leader isn't with us, so it's tough. But I thought our guys were phenomenal in how they came out."Player of the game: Sometimes questioned for his motor — even today with the NBA's Phoenix Suns — Ayton played with a furious intensity, collecting 17 points and 11 rebounds before the halftime buzzer even sounded.
The coach vowed to fight the allegation, which ultimately was not mentioned in the Independent Accountability Resolution Process ruling last December, nearly five years after that Oregon game. In the near-term, however, the news led to shockwaves that scared off UA recruits Shareef O'Neal and Brandon Williams and put an even darker shadow over the end of the 2017-18 season.
Miller coached three more seasons with the Wildcats, including a surprisingly effective 17-9 season in 2020-21 that might have gotten UA in the NCAA Tournament had the school not levied a self-imposed postseason ban. Then he was fired in April 2021 for what UA said were for both on and off the court reasons.
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