Never mind that Sports Illustrated quoted FBI wiretaps of a phone conversation between University of Arizona basketball coach Sean Miller and an agent discussing a $100,000 payment to top recruit Deandre Ayton. Never mind that a UA assistant already had been fired after he was charged by the feds with bribery and fraud. And never mind that another star player was suspended for using drugs. Miller kept his job by blaming the messenger. "I'm outraged by the media statements that have been made and the acceptance by many that these statements were true," Miller said in a fiery press conference in late February. (Sports Illustrated stood by its story, FYI.) But if Miller felt vindicated, maybe the basketball gods thought otherwise. The heavily favored Wildcats lost their first game in the NCAA tournament, 89-68, to the University of Buffalo, a 13 seed. And just minutes after the stunning defeat, Ayton, who denied receiving the payment, announced he was leaving UA for the NBA, where he will make $100,000 for each game of his rookie season. Guess karma's not a bitch for everyone.