ESPN's Dick Vitale slams IARP's Sean Miller, Arizona basketball ruling: 'Shame on you'

Dick Vitale is not happy with the Independent Accountability Resolution Process (IARP) and its ruling Wednesday on the Arizona basketball program and former coach Sean Miller.

The ESPN analyst took to Twitter to sound off on the ruling, which did not impose any future postseason ban on the Wildcats program and didn't levy any sanctions against Miller, who now coaches at Xavier.

He tweeted (calling the IARP, the IAARP): "Biggest winner in the IAARP rulings on @ArizonaMBB is @XavierMBB as they ended up with a HEAD COACH that can flat out coach .No one ever said SEAN MILLER could’nt coach but as the Man in charge at Arizona he NEVER EVER should have walked with ZERO penalties .SHAME ON YOU IAARP!"

Why Dick Vitale is upset:Arizona Wildcats basketball avoids postseason ban in IARP recruiting investigation ruling

Vitale continued: "@coachbrucepearl at Tennessee rec’d a penalty of 5 years show cause penalty for lying to the @NCAA about having a recruit at his house . @NCAA said at @uarizona committed 5 Level 1 violations & their Pres believed major probs occurred that he placed sanctions on the program ."

Arizona's self-imposed sanctions were accepted by the process, which added a seven-week ban on recruiting for current Arizona coaches during the 2022-23 academic year, but did not include any future postseason ban for the Wildcats after Arizona had self-imposed a postseason and NCAA tournament ban in 2020-21.

The IARP is comprised of lawyers and investigators that handle complex NCAA infractions cases. It was created in the wake of the FBI’s investigation into college basketball.

Vitale obviously didn't agree with the group's findings.

He also tweeted: "IAARP has been a joke / taking years to make decisions is absurd . If @NCAA can’t make a decision within 2 years ALL charges SHOULD BE DROPPED! It is amazing how @ArizonaMBB the assistants are destroyed for LIFE professionally & the Head guy walks off in the sunset ."

Timeline:Arizona basketball NCAA recruiting investigation timeline: Key moments from start to end

He added: "All of you who want us @espn to apologize to Sean MIller can’t be serious.Two ass’ts were severely penalized .In previous cases it was said by @NCAA that the HEAD COACH was responsible for their staff. If there were no violations y did the Pres of @uarizona give out sanctions ?"

"We are pleased that this five-year process is now behind us," a statement released by the Arizona Athletic Department said. "We are grateful that the panel acknowledged our extensive cooperation, as noted in the IARP press release."

The ruling handed a 10-year show-cause order to former assistant coach Book Richardson and a two-year show-cause order for former assistant coach Mark Phelps, but did not sanction Miller, who was fired from the school in April of 2021.

Vitale obviously felt Miller should have been held responsible for his assistant's actions, even if the ruling found no fault in the former Wildcats head coach.

He tweeted: "Amazing how all the assistants get nailed big time & the Head guys r set free . I thought the @NCAA stated that the HEAD COACH is RESPONSIBLE for what happens in its program."

More:Arizona basketball fires coach Sean Miller after 12 seasons: 'We need to move forward'

Click here to read about the penalties for Arizona basketball in the IARP ruling, as well as for background in the Arizona basketball recruiting case and statements from University of Arizona leaders, as well as Miller.

Reach Jeremy Cluff at jeremy.cluff@arizonarepublic.com. Follow him on Twitter @Jeremy_Cluff.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Sean Miller, Arizona basketball IARP ruling slammed by Dick Vitale