University of Maryland athletic director Kevin Anderson took a jab at Arizona Athletics in an interview with Mike Wise of the Washington Post.

Anderson, who tried to lure men’s basketball coach Sean Miller to Maryland during the summer, told the Post in a Sept. 4 article that the two reached a disagreement about admission standards for athletes at a meeting in Las Vegas in early May.

“It’s not that I couldn’t promise him (special admits), I wasn’t going to do that,” Anderson told the Post of the meeting with Miller. “I don’t know what they’re doing where he is (Arizona) but, you know, we’re not doing that.”

Arizona athletic director Greg Byrne declined to comment on the matter.

UA associate athletics director for compliance Bill Morgan said that Anderson’s assertion that Arizona allows academic special admits was off base.

“We don’t do that here,” Morgan said. “I’m not sure what (Anderson) was referring to.”

Two unnamed sources told Wise that Miller wanted special admits, a term used for allowing freshmen whom failed to meet exact NCAA standards but possess special talents, “most of whom are African American, from inner cities,” to enroll in a university.

Anderson wouldn’t budge, and Wise wrote that “the ‘chemistry’ wasn’t great between the two men.”

The Post columnist also added that “many other coaches would have asked for the same” special admits.

Special admits can be defined as follows:

“A student-athlete may be admitted under a special exception to the institution’s normal entrance requirements if the discretionary authority of the president or chancellor (or designated admissions officer or committee) to grant such exceptions is set forth in an official document published by the university (e.g., official catalog) that describes the institution’s admissions requirements,” according to NCAA Bylaw 14.1.5.1.1.

The UA’s undergraduate application states, “In the non-academic aspects of your application, we look at your activities summary and your unique life experiences, attributes, achievements and talents, as well as your personal statement.”

The Arizona Board of Regents admissions policy says that prospective students must graduate high school with at least a 2.0 cumulative grade point average, while completing a set number of classes in English, math, laboratory science, foreign language, social science and fine arts.

While special admits are often due to failing to meet academic requirements, athletes admitted past deadlines also fall under the category. So technically, an athlete with a 4.0 GPA that was admitted after failing to meet the application deadline would be classified as a special admit.

Wise’s column, titled “Kevin Anderson trying to keep Maryland out of Miami’s predicament,” was about Anderson’s goal in avoiding the Miami Hurricanes’ situation following a scandal involving a booster that provided a number of improper benefits to recruits and student athletes.

Anderson’s comments come as Miller has secured what Rivals.com calls the nation’s No. 4 recruiting class for 2011 and the No. 3 class for 2012.