By Bruce Pascoe | Arizona Daily
Seven days after Arizona assistant coach Book Richardson was arrested on federal bribery and fraud charges, the statements flowed in, one by one.
At 3:35 p.m. on Tuesday, UA coach Sean Miller said in a statement from UA’s athletic department that he was “devastated” about the situation and that he realized he was responsible for an atmosphere of compliance.
At 4:36 p.m., UA president Robert Robbins sent a direct email to UA employees to outline the legal teams the school has hired, and to say he supported Miller “based on the facts we know at this time.”
Related: UA officials made a statement with their canned quotes, and it’s not a good one
At 5:10 p.m., UA athletic director Dave Heeke issued a statement through the athletic department saying the university’s move to hire multiple law firms would ensure “we are winning with integrity at all times.”
At 5:21 p.m., Robbins’ address was forwarded to media by the UA’s main campus communications office.
It was a long stream of words that ultimately said pretty much the same thing: That UA is OK with Miller at least for the time being, that it intends to comply with the rules and investigations … and that it wants fans to remain interested in the actual basketball season.
