Representatives for both Arizona head coach Sean Miller and LSU head coach Will Wade have been notified that they will be subpoenaed for the upcoming federal corruption trial, according to a report from Yahoo! Sports.
The trial these subpoenas are associated with will take place on April 22nd. Both coaches were caught on wiretaps speaking with Christian Dawkins, a former runner for ex-NBA agent Andy Miller that was found guilty on multiple felony fraud charges in October, the first trial stemming from the FBI’s investigation into corruption in college basketball recruiting.
The significance of these subpoenas -- which, according to Yahoo, have not actually been delivered, as this was a courtesy to avoid a public spectacle when the subpoenas are ready -- is that two high profile active head coaches will be testifying in court, under oath, about the black market world of college basketball recruiting.
Miller is already under pressure after one of his assistant coaches, Emanuel ‘Book’ Richardson, was convicted on fraud charges in the first corruption trial. A second assistant, Mark Phelps, was relieved of his duties due to an unrelated academic scandal that reportedly involved the recruitment of Shaq’s son Shareef O’Neal, who is now at UCLA, and a third former assistant -- Joe Pasternack -- was linked to Miller’s agency as their in when recruiting players from Arizona.
Wade is involved thanks to a wiretap transcript that was read in court during the first trial that involved LSU’s recruitment of five-star big man Balsa Koprivica. Wade told Dawkins in that conversation that “there is other [expletive] involved” and then, after closing a door, said, “I can get you what you need, but it’s got to work.”