Sean Miller is fine going with a smaller roster. Photo by Steve Dykes-USA TODAY Sports

Arizona Wildcats basketball coach Sean Miller has two available scholarships to give. He could very well just keep those in his pocket.

Arizona officially added Kansas transfer big man Zach Peters to the roster Friday, bringing the team’s scholarship total to 11, although it’s still unclear if he’ll be eligible in the 2013-14 season. Either way, Miller seems content with the roster.

“Just because you have that number 13 sitting there, I don’t know if it’s as important as it once was,” Miller said of the scholarship limit.

“In fact, to me, it’s more intelligent that anyone you add to your program, they have to be a contributor and there has to be a reason you do it. You don’t want to fill in the scholarship void just to add depth because that person you’re talking about will end up leaving.

“For us, there’s a chance we won’t add anyone.”

Of course, you never know.

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NOTE: Here is a story posted Saturday night by USA Today, our Gannett partner, using a public records request for background on the officiating controversy at the Pac-12 men’s basketball tournament in March. The University of Arizona has not responded to a records request from TucsonCitizen.com.

Sean Miller reacts as Michael Irving signals for the technical foul vs. UCLA. Photo by Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

By George Schroeder
USA TODAY

As the Pac-12 attempts to repair credibility in the wake of a controversy that cost the league’s coordinator of basketball officials his job, it might also need to repair its relationship with one of its highest-profile programs. Correspondence between Arizona and Pac-12 officials suggests relations already were strained before the Pac-12 Tournament, and that tensions might linger despite Ed Rush’s ouster.

Documents obtained by USA TODAY Sports from Arizona in response to a public records request show a flurry of communication and continuing disagreement over the circumstances surrounding the Wildcats’ two-point loss to UCLA in a tournament semifinal on March 15.

That was the game that led to a public reprimand and $25,000 fine for Arizona coach Sean Miller, both for his postgame confrontation with referee Michael Irving and for a subsequent outburst near a Pac-12 staff member minutes later. Two weeks later, CBSSports.com broke a story alleging that Rush, the league’s coordinator of officials, had promised cash and travel awards if officials called a technical foul on Miller or ejected him.

The documents show Arizona athletic director Greg Byrne and Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott had discussed the allegations against Rush much earlier. According to emails, the two men disagreed whether it and other factors should have been considered a mitigating circumstance in punishing Miller, who was incensed over a technical foul he was assessed by Irving with 4:37 left in the game against UCLA.

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Doug Haller of the Arizona Republic, our Gannett partner, interviewed Ed Rush, who resigned as the head of the Pac-12 men’s basketball officials Thursday. Here is Haller’s story:

Michael Jordan had a disagreement with Ed Rush during the NBA Finals in 1996. Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images Sport

By Doug Haller
azcentral sports

Ed Rush admits he made a mistake. The former Pac-12 Coordinator of Men’s Basketball Officiating said something in jest at the wrong time in front of the wrong audience. In the end, it cost him his job. On Thursday, amid national criticism, Rush resigned.

“When I finally realized that all this noise was really kind of getting in (Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott’s) way of doing business I said to him, ‘If this ever becomes a situation where it’s very difficult for you to manage … I’ll move on,” Rush told azcentral sports. “We talked about it, and it just seemed like the right time.”

This week, CBSSports reported the Pac-12 had investigated Rush for targeting Arizona coach Sean Miller during the Pac-12 Tournament. According to the report, Rush held a meeting and offered referees $5,000 or a trip to Cancun for giving Miller a technical foul or ejecting him.

The next day referee Michael Irving hit Miller with a technical foul after a controversial play with 4:37 left in a semifinal contest against UCLA. The Wildcats lost by two points. Miller told reporters after the game that all he did was yell, “He touched the ball,” claiming he used no profanity.

Two days later, the Pac-12 reprimanded and fined Miller $25,000 for confronting an official after the game and for “acting inappropriately” toward a conference staff member.

In a telephone interview, Rush, a Phoenix resident, provided his version of events:

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Sean Miller reacts as Michael Irving signals for the technical foul vs. UCLA. Photo by Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

Ed Rush’s last decision with the Pac-12 was the correct call.

Rush, at the center of the “bounty” scandal involving Arizona Wildcats coach Sean Miller, has saved the Pac-12 and commissioner Larry Scott further embarrassment by announcing his resignation Thursday afternoon as the league’s coordinator of men’s basketball officiating.

“I would like to thank the Pac-12 for giving me the opportunity to lead a group of officials who are working so hard to make the Pac-12 the best officiated conference in college basketball,” Rush said in a statement released by the conference.

“My first and highest concerns have always been the integrity of the game of basketball and the honor of the craft of officiating. While I am proud of what we have accomplished, my decision to resign reflects my strong desire to see the Pac-12 officiating program continue to grow and thrive.”

It would have been nearly impossible for that to happen under Rush’s watch after Jeff Goodman of CBSSports.com broke the story this week that Rush twice told officials at the Pac-12 tournament he was offering $5,000 or a trip to Cancun for anyone who gave Miller a technical foul or threw him out of the game.

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Aaron Gordon prepares to make his announcement Tuesday. Photo via Twitter, @McDAAG

RELATED: Five-star recruit Aaron Gordon commits to the Arizona Wildcats

For the second consecutive season, Arizona Wildcats coach Sean Miller will be bringing in two McDonald’s All-Americans in the same recruiting class.

Miller signed Mickey D’s All-Americans Brandon Ashley and Grant Jerrett in last year’s recruiting class, and he added Aaron Gordon to the commitment list Tuesday morning after signing Rondae Hollis-Jefferson in the fall.

Until last season, Arizona had never brought in multiple McDonald’s All-Americans in the same class.

Hassan Adams and Ndudi Ebi each signed in the 2002 class, but Ebi went straight to the pros. Mike Bibby and Loren Woods were both McDonald’s All-Americans in 1996, but Woods didn’t arrive in Tucson until after his transfer from Wake Forest.

This is the 36th year of the McDonald’s All-American Game, and 21 players from the game have signed with or played at Arizona.

Here is the full list:

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Sean Miller nearly removed his jacket after he was called for a technical foul against UCLA. Photo by Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

The Ed Rush-Sean Miller story, broken Monday afternoon by Jeff Goodman at CBSSports.com, is making the national rounds this morning, with the consensus being what I wrote last night — Rush must go.

Here is a sampling of what others across the nation are saying about Rush’s supposed bounty on Miller at the Pac-12 tournament:

* * *

Former college basketball head coach Seth Greenberg talked about the Rush incident on ESPN’s SportsCenter this morning. He is a partial transcript of his comments, starting with finding fault about the concept of targeting a certain coach:

“First of all, from game to game, you’re supposed to have a clean slate. If you’re have a problem with a coach, before the game you address it with the coach and you have a clean slate and you move on,” Greenberg said.

“They put a bounty on Sean Miller. Plain and simple. If it’s brought up in a pregame meeting with officials, you’re sending a message — whether it is a subliminal message or a hard, true message. … To me, it’s appalling.”

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Sean Miller reacts as Michael Irving signals for a technical foul. Photo by Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

The Pac-12 should fire Ed Rush, the league’s coordinator of basketball officials.

In a stunning story, Jeff Goodman of CBSSports.com reported Monday that Rush — in jest or not — told a group of referees at the Pac-12 tournament in Las Vegas that he was offering $5,000 or a trip to Cancun if someone gave Arizona Wildcats coach Sean Miller a technical foul or throw him out the game.

Goodman reported that official Michael Irving was in the room; it was Irving who delivered the controversial technical foul against Miller late in a semifinal game against UCLA.

This isn’t to say that Rush’s comments were to be taken literally, or that Irving interpreted them that way, but it’s easy to see how the integrity of Pac-12 officiating has been compromised.

Rush, in his position, has to be beyond reproach and wholly accountable. To even suggest a targeting of a particular coach indicates, at the least, there is a lack of professionalism in a job that demands professionalism perfection. No perception of bias should be tolerated.

After this, how is Miller — how is any coach in the league? — supposed to trust a call?

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LaQuinton Ross hits the game-winning shot. Photo by Robert Hanashiro-USA TODAY Sports

LOS ANGELES — This is the way it ends. This is the way it always ends when you’re not cutting down the nets. In a quiet locker room, elbows on your knees, hands on your head, eyes becoming red.

The end hit the Arizona Wildcats suddenly on Thursday night, with a 3-point shot like a dagger from Ohio State’s LaQuinton Ross with 2.1 seconds left. From 11 points up, to 10 points down, to a tie game on the final possession … to heartbreak.

And so Grant Jerrett sat in the Los Angeles Kings locker room at Staples Center, white towel covering his face, hands on his head, struck by the finality of a 73-70 loss to Ohio State in the Sweet 16. Fellow freshman post player Kaleb Tarczewski spoke to Jerrett’s right. The team’s other freshman post, Brandon Ashley, conducted interviews to his left.

For nearly 20 minutes, Jerrett barely moved. How many times he must have replayed the final, fateful play.

“No one died,” he said, when he finally lifted the towel and spoke to reporters for a couple of minutes, “but when you play basketball and you really love it, it hurts a lot.”

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Sean Miller meets with the media the day before the Sweet 16 matchup against Ohio State. Photo by Richard Mackson-USA TODAY Sports

The Arizona Wildcats play Ohio State in a Sweet 16 game Thursday from Los Angeles, and here are 16 numbers to help get you ready:

4 — Ranking of the West on anybody’s list of the toughest of the four NCAA regionals. “If it’s the worst regional, good, great. I’m glad I’m here,” said Arizona coach Sean Miller. “I mean, the thing about the tournament is nobody looks back and says, ‘Boy, what an easy road or hard road.’ You either advanced or you didn’t.”

7.1 — Percent shooting before the first media timeout for Arizona’s first two NCAA opponents (1 of 14). Those quick starts have snuffed the upset hopes of two underdogs and are the reason why the Wildcats have yet to trail in the tournament.

10 — The minimum number of points that Ohio State will win by in both games at the West regional, as predicted by Myron Medcalf of ESPN.com.

He writes: “I just think the Buckeyes are two steps above the remaining teams in the West Region. Check the stats. Ohio State has been the Big Ten’s best team overall for more than a month. It has the leadership of Aaron Craft and Deshaun Thomas. The Buckeyes aren’t a two-man show, though. LaQuinton Ross, Shannon Scott and others have been crucial contributors, too. The Buckeyes are playing solid defense. And they’ve been one of America’s toughest teams for a lengthy stretch. Ohio State won’t have many struggles at Staples Center.”

It is worth noting he also picked the Pac-12 to go 0-5 in its opening games last week. The league went 3-2 and has two teams (Arizona, Oregon) in the Sweet 16.

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Aaron Craft is the “heart and soul” of Ohio State, says Arizona coach Sean Miller. Photo by Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports

Grantland.com recently produced a 32-player bracket of the most hated college basketball players of the past 30 years.

Ohio State junior guard Aaron Craft was a No. 7 seed in the “2000s” region.

Arizona Wildcats coach Sean Miller has a different view.

“If he’s not one of your favorite players, then you don’t like college basketball,” Miller said Monday.

It depends. Perhaps he’s the Bobby Hurley of his day. A point guard who looks like you should be beating up and kicking around the court. Cheeks flushed, not big enough, bad jump shot. And then he finds a way to beat you, the gutty overachiever who seems almost too good to be true.

There is usually a pushback against a player who has that kind of narrative.

Easy to love. Easy to hate.

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