TUCSON, Ariz — Arizona Basketball's eventful off-season now has another element as 24-7 Sports reports that the attorney for Mark Phelps is claiming defamation.
Phelps was suspended in February for a violation of team rules. ESPN reported that it had to do with the handling of transcripts of then-recruit Shareef O'Neal. However, that has not been confirmed by another source.
Phelps' contract is set to run out June 30th. And, in a termination hearing, Arizona officials said he had an absence of social skills and a personality conflict. Donald Maurice Jackson, the lawyer representing Phelps, says there is no evidence of any wrongdoing by his client, and he is now unemployable in college basketball.
The Wildcat program is currently being investigated by the NCAA, and another former assistant coach, Book Richardson, has been sentenced to three months in prison after pleading guilty to bribery amid a college basketball corruption scandal.
