Fourth-year Arizona assistant basketball coach Mark Phelps has been suspended by the University, which has “initiated the process to terminate” him. Credit: Arizona Athletics

University of Arizona assistant men’s basketball coach Mark Phelps has been suspended by the school, with the intent of firing him, according to a statement released on Wednesday night.

The University’s statement read in part:

The University of Arizona has initiated the process to terminate Assistant Men’s Basketball Coach Mark Phelps’ employment with the University. During this process, Phelps has been placed on suspension with pay in accordance with University policy. This personnel action is not related to the federal criminal proceedings in New York or the NCAA’s review of the facts underlying the allegations of unlawful conduct.

Phelp’s suspension comes days after ESPN reporter Mark Schlabach reported that Phelps is accused of altering former commit and current UCLA player Shareef O’Neal’s academic transcript.

Arizona Director of Athletics Dave Heeke released a statement on Wednesday, calling Phelps’ conduct unfit for his position within the program.

“The University of Arizona is committed to the highest standards of integrity and ethical conduct and our commitment to those principles is unwavering,” Heeke said. “The decision to remove Coach Phelps immediately is a direct result of that commitment. We strive to compete within the rules of the NCAA and the PAC-12 Conference, and we will continue to cooperate fully with the NCAA. Coach Miller fully supports this decision, which we agree is in the best interests of our men’s basketball program and the University.”

This article appears in Feb 7-13, 2019.

Christopher Boan is a cocksure smartass of a writer that mainly focuses on sports, music and the hellscape in-between. He's a four-time Arizona Newspaper Association Better Newspaper Award winner, and...

6 replies on “University of Arizona Wants to Ax UA Assistant Men’s Basketball Coach”

  1. With few exceptions, the Athletic Program at the UofA has become a “Feeder Program” for Professional Sports. The inveterate/wide spread corruption within the Athletic Program is symptomatic of this focus with the complete disregard of the Main Mission of the University…Student Academic Career Preparedness!

    This is not at all surprising, since the University has became a “For Profit Business” Financially Scamming Students with the Support of a Corrupt Athletic Program that brings Millions to the University.

    The Athletic Program at the UofA, at such, Must be Dismantled!!

  2. The tenured Professors are just as much a part of it also. It has become a diploma mill for socialist brainwashing.

  3. cv324yyz, maybe you should go back to school and find out what “socialism” actually means – you know, educational institutions that don’t actually make a profit.

  5. …and….The Arizona Board of Regents are, in fact, complicit in the Corruption within the UofA Athletic Program for allowing/supporting the Arizona University System transformation into a Corrupt “For Profit Business”!

    Dave Heeke $575,000/yr; Rich Rodriguez $2.5 million/year, Kevin Sumlin $3.5 million/yr, Sean Miller $2.6 million/yr….while UofA Students are skipping Meals because of On Campus Food costs Provided by “For Profit’ Venders.

    Outrageous!!!. The Athletic Program at the UofA Must be Dismantled; and, Arizona Resident Access/Matriculation to the Arizona Univerity System provided at NO Cost!!

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