ESPN’s timeline of Sean Miller’s wiretapped call doesn’t add up, per 247Sports

This story is getting shakier and shakier

ESPN has made two corrections to its report that said Sean Miller allegedly discussed a $100,000 payment with former ASM employee Christian Dawkins for Deandre Ayton.

The first was changing the date of the alleged wiretapped phone call from “spring of 2017” to “spring of 2016.” The second was changing it to just “2016.”

That seemed to make more sense because Ayton committed to Arizona in September 2016, but, according to 247Sports, that timeline doesn’t actually make much sense at all.

Here is what Evan Daniels, Brian Snow, and Josh Gershon are reporting:

A source told 247Sports that Dawkins (who had his phone tapped by the FBI) and Miller had calls intercepted between the timeframe of June 19 of 2017, through Sept. 25.

Sources say that the U.S. Attorney’s office notified multiple parties who had conversations with Dawkins that their phone calls had been recorded specifically during the dates of June 19, 2017 and Sept. 25, 2017.

The 247Sports report also says Dawkins has never been a handler/mentor for Ayton. So, connecting the dots, it wouldn’t make sense why Miller and Dawkins were discussing a payment for the Bahamian big man.

ESPN also made a mistake reporting Miller’s contract, saying he would be paid more if fired with cause than without it, but Anne Ryman of AZCentral proved that to be false.

Then last Saturday an ESPN announcer inaccurately said during the Arizona State-Oregon State game that Miller had been fired by Arizona.

Ayton and his family have denied any illegal activity, while UA’s outside counsel strongly defended Ayton, saying there is “not a shred” of evidence that suggests he broke any NCAA rules.

ESPN’s report never said any money actually changed hands between Ayton and Miller/Arizona, and the wiretap recordings could still exist, but this story seems to be getting shakier and shakier since it was first reported Friday.

Miller said in a statement that he is confident he will be “vindicated,” but he wasn’t at Arizona’s practice Monday and remains away from the team after he stepped away before Saturday’s game at Oregon.

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Follow Ryan Kelapire on Twitter at @RKelapire

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