ESPN announcer says Arizona relieves Sean Miller of his duties, takes it back

This was weird

During the ASU/Oregon State game, ESPN play-by-play guy Steve Quis went on-air saying that the Arizona Wildcats had relieved Sean Miller of his duties.

“We have breaking news from Arizona,” Quis said. “Sean Miller has been relieved of his duties at The University of Arizona. It almost renders you breathless, huh?”

Analyst Adrian Branch chimed in with a “wow” in there too.

ESPN reporting Sean Miller is out at Arizona. #12Sports pic.twitter.com/V7DuBnjQg1

— Cameron Cox (@CamCox12) February 25, 2018

Well, the game went to the studio for the halftime show and there was no further mention of it, and there was no word on social media.

So when the broadcast went back to the guys calling the game, Quis had some explaining to do.

“We had an inadvertent report and we apologize for saying that Sean Miller has been fired. That was an inadvertent report from the press row here at Oregon State earlier tonight so we regret that information passed along.”

ESPN just reported it was inadvertent. What a bunch of ------!!! Why do that?!?!?! pic.twitter.com/akDgOGyKhP

— Saul Bookman (@Saul_Bookman) February 25, 2018

The university has since released a statement saying that the information broadcast during the game was incorrect and Miller has not been fired.

Miller will not be coaching the team on Saturday night when they face the Oregon Ducks, but did have this to say earlier Saturday:

“I believe it is in the best interest of our team that I not coach the game tonight. I continue to fully support the University’s efforts to fully investigate this matter and am confident that I will be vindicated. For now, my thoughts are with our team. They are a great group of young men that will support each other and continue their pursuit of winning a Pac-12 championship.”

The Arizona Board of Regents held an emergency session on Saturday and had this to say afterwards:

“The Arizona Board of Regents is very concerned by the media reports regarding allegations against the University of Arizona Men’s Basketball. The board met in emergency executive session today to receive legal advice regarding the issue and plans to reconvene for updates and legal advice in the coming days.

The board holds the highest expectations for a culture of excellence in our intercollegiate athletic programs. Leadership, integrity and honor are core values to advance success and to support our student athletes. These premiums must not be compromised.

The board is confident UA President Robbins will uphold UA’s commitment to its core values and the UA family. Equally, the board is committed to acting in the best interest of our universities.

This is an emotionally charged issue but it is essential that we move forward decisively and based on facts. 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.

The board is reviewing its oversight of athletics and has been making reforms to its policies to ensure greater public accountability.

The board is committed to meeting in the next several days as new information becomes available and to receive additional legal advice.”

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