Mills Is Ready and Willing to Play, but He Must Wait : Basketball: Former Fairfax star can practice with Arizona, but NCAA will decide if he’s eligible.
TUCSON — On the first day of practice Sunday, Chris Mills wore a gray and blue jersey that said “Arizona Basketball,†a moveable message that seemed misleading.
Mills, a 19-year-old sophomore, remains an unofficial member of the Arizona Wildcat team while awaiting a landmark ruling from the National Collegiate Athletic Assn. that will decide if he will be eligible to play this season.
By a simple majority vote, the 22 Division I members of the NCAA Council meeting today through Wednesday in Indianapolis will decide the fate of Mills, who transfered from the University of Kentucky after it was placed on probation for three years.
Mills was ruled ineligible to play again at Kentucky as part of the NCAA sanctions against the school. He decided to attend Arizona in June and the university petitioned the NCAA to waive its one-year waiting period for transfers.
Arizona’s request for such a waiver have been studied by both the NCAA Council and the Infractions Committee and a favorable ruling is expected.
One high-ranking official of a university, who did not wish to be named but was familiar with the content of the written instructions that the NCAA Council will consider, said he was certain of a decision in Mills’ favor based on the information before the council.
“I don’t know how they can turn him down,†Arizona Athletic Director Cedric Dempsey said. “They were never able to say he was directly involved (in the Kentucky violations).
Mills, who has threatened to sue the NCAA if his waiver is not granted, believes he will continue to practice and play with his new teammates.
“Right now, I’m saying that it’s probably going in my favor, but you can’t never tell until it actually comes out,†Mills said.
Although Mills was never mentioned in the NCAA’s report of its sanctions against Kentucky, one of the specific infractions involved him at least indirectly.
After he had signed a letter of intent with Kentucky and was still attending Fairfax High School, then-Kentucky assistant coach Dwane Casey was found to have sent $1,000 in cash to his father, Claud Mills. Chris Mills had been the object of an intense recruiting war between Kentucky, UCLA, Nevada Las Vegas, Louisville and Syracuse.
The money the NCAA said Casey sent to the elder Mills was found in an opened air express package.
Claud Mills, who offered to take a lie detector test to prove his innocence, said he sees no reason why his son wouldn’t receive the waiver from the NCAA.
“They never had any evidence of anything,†Claud Mills said. “And it’s not like he transferred himself. They asked him to transfer and not to go back to UK.
“Arizona is a school that’s very, very strict. That’s what we thought of Kentucky, too. Chris abided by their rules.â€
Claud Mills said he was not inclined to sue the NCAA if the NCAA Council ruled that Chris Mills was not allowed to play this season.
“I would really like to know why, as far as justice is concerned,†he said. “But I would go along with it because I wouldn’t want to buck the NCAA.â€
Dempsey said he had no quarrel with the NCAA over the nearly three months it has taken for a decision on Mills. But Dempsey said there is only one way the NCAA Council can rule.
“From Chris’ standpoint, if they turn him down, they are making an assumption of guilt which others previously never were able to determine,†Dempsey said.
According to an official with the NCAA’s enforcement division, the NCAA Council may decide to waive bylaw 14-9-22 and allow Mills to play “upon determination of the innocence or inadvertent involvement of the student-athlete in the violations.â€
The NCAA has never before issued a ruling in such a case. UCLA Athletic Director Pete Dalis said that Chancellor Charles Young, a member of the NCAA Council, will not vote in the Mills matter because the school tried to recruit him.
On the first day of practice, Mills was eager to put his past troubles aside. He said he has already gotten used to the desert heat and taken up residence in an off-campus apartment with two freshman teammates.
“This whole thing has made me a lot stronger,†he said. “What’s past is history. I’m just trying to go on from here.’
Mills’ father remains firmly in his corner, expecting him to stay at Arizona for his remaining three years and graduate.
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