Sean Miller

[azgreg]

[azgreg]

[CatFanOneMil]

I say get rid of Heeke and Robbins now as well...if we're cleaning house we should at least take out the garbage.

Clean start all the way around...

[azpatnca]

Maybe we'll get Roy Williams. Tucson is a retirement town

[TheCat]

Here is what I just sent Heeke:

Dave,

As a graduate of the University of Arizona and a financial supporter of the athletic department I will not be supporting this department or the University until you and the current president have been removed. Your actions are irresponsible and hurtful to the athletic interest of our student athletes and are contrary to any sense of dignity in the way you have treated the individuals involved especially Coach Miller. You allowed coach Miller to recruit a student athlete just yesterday when you knew he would be terminated. Please explain your logic in allowing this student athlete to be deceived.

I have lost all confidence in you, the athletic department and President Robbins. Do not have Judi Kessler, Marty Breslin or Victor Iniguez contact me in the future for any donation to this University and especially the athletic department.

[Spaceman Spiff]

Can I add to that?

That also means Robbins sent a team and staff to travel and expose themselves to increased Covid risk despite the fact the game made no difference in the season, the potential for psotseason or the future of the coaching staff. There was literally no point and we affirmatively added that game back in to incur extra healh risks?

[TheCat]

AZ basketball is temporarily dead now. Unless the hire is somehow a home run, this automatically makes us worse for the entire foreseeable future.

Maybe I was spoiled by the Lute era, but it seems to me AZ BB has been "dead" for the better part of decade. Allegations notwithstanding, so much talent, so many middling finishes.

If you consider 3 elite 8's middling I can't help you.

[MountainCat]

...I bet Miller gets another job and then just goes on a mission to dominate.

I bet he gets hired somewhere else within the next to weeks and takes most of our team with him as they all can transfer without penalty.

Watch him win the Big East next year... ... or someplace like that.

[BibbysTowelDude]

Hi,

I just wanted to laugh. I knew these two were gonna chump out from the start. Cowards.

Adios Amigos!

[dmjcat]

...I bet Miller gets another job and then just goes on a mission to dominate.

I bet he gets hired somewhere else within the next to weeks and takes most of our team with him as they all can transfer without penalty.

Watch him win the Big East next year... ... or someplace like that.

Seriously doubt he gets hired by an P5 school anytime soon.

Sean is radioactive. No AD is going to want to hire a coach who just got fired with an IARP investigation/judgement still out there. Sean may have to go the Euro route or perhaps work as an assistant/analyst in the NBA in the short term.

[Chicat]

I know Sean Miller would never see this, but I'd like to thank him.

He came to Arizona coming on the heels of the Lute, KO, Russ Pennell disaster of a transition. He turned us right back around, delivering four 30 win campaigns, three Elite 8s and three top 5 AP final rankings over the next eight seasons. He gave us amazing moments where we felt again what it was like under Lute's best years. He brought in top talent, and kept Arizona's name amongst the upper echelon of college basketball programs.

He deserved better than this.

[dmjcat]

...I bet Miller gets another job and then just goes on a mission to dominate.

I bet he gets hired somewhere else within the next to weeks and takes most of our team with him as they all can transfer without penalty.

Watch him win the Big East next year... ... or someplace like that.

Seriously doubt he gets hired by an P5 school anytime soon.

Sean is radioactive. No AD is going to want to hire a coach who just got fired with an IARP investigation/judgement still out there. Sean may have to go the Euro route or perhaps work as an assistant/analyst in the NBA in the short term. Its going to take him some time to rehabilitate his name/reputation

[prh]

I almost hope he beats us to a FF. I don't because I want one for us. But this is stupid.

I would not have a problem with him landing a job and having all our returnees follow him. I really wouldn't at this point.

[Merkin]

Miller is a fantastic recruiter. He will get picked up really quick as an assistant where he won't have control of a program.

Really hope he takes Tubelis and Mathurin with him, and they get their Final Four at whatever program Miller is at.

[Spaceman Spiff]

I know Sean Miller would never see this, but I'd like to thank him.

He came to Arizona coming on the heels of the Lute, KO, Russ Pennell disaster of a transition. He turned us right back around, delivering four 30 win campaigns, three Elite 8s and three top 5 AP final rankings over the next eight seasons. He gave us amazing moments where we felt again what it was like under Lute's best years. He brought in top talent, and kept Arizona's name amongst the upper echelon of college basketball programs.

He deserved better than this.

Amen.

He did a lot for this program and got screwed in return. I'm embarassed to be an Arizona fan with how he was treated.

[gronk4heisman]

...I bet Miller gets another job and then just goes on a mission to dominate.

I bet he gets hired somewhere else within the next to weeks and takes most of our team with him as they all can transfer without penalty.

Watch him win the Big East next year... ... or someplace like that.

Seriously doubt he gets hired by an P5 school anytime soon.

Sean is radioactive. No AD is going to want to hire a coach who just got fired with an IARP investigation/judgement still out there. Sean may have to go the Euro route or perhaps work as an assistant/analyst in the NBA in the short term.

He is a young proven winner, I do not think he will have as much trouble as you think.

[EVCat]

ESPN just said we were going to extend but the ABOR wouldn't agree.

That would be news to me. But this is ESPN. So...

[gronk4heisman]

ESPN just said we were going to extend but the ABOR wouldn't agree.

That would be news to me. But this is ESPN. So...

Bobby leaking lies to soften the push back.

[EVCat]

"Sources told ESPN that Arizona had been considering a contract extension for Miller, but the Board of Regents would not approve it because of the ongoing NCAA issues."

[EVCat]

if that's pushing rumors, I would expect the ABOR to have none of that. Would be pretty ballsy, even for Robbins, to do that to/put that on the ABOR, the one group that has some power.

[Spaceman Spiff]

"Sources told ESPN that Arizona had been considering a contract extension for Miller, but the Board of Regents would not approve it because of the ongoing NCAA issues."

That's bullshit and ABOR already released a statement saying that's not the case.

[CatFanOneMil]

...I bet Miller gets another job and then just goes on a mission to dominate.

I bet he gets hired somewhere else within the next to weeks and takes most of our team with him as they all can transfer without penalty.

Watch him win the Big East next year... ... or someplace like that.

Seriously doubt he gets hired by an P5 school anytime soon.

Sean is radioactive. No AD is going to want to hire a coach who just got fired with an IARP investigation/judgement still out there. Sean may have to go the Euro route or perhaps work as an assistant/analyst in the NBA in the short term.

Not anymore...as far as I can tell there is no way any violations or penalties will follow him...Robbins thinks he gave AZ a clean slate but the only one getting away scott free is Sean...

" However, as with the enforcement process in general, the focus is at the institutional level."-NCAA enforcement process...

It's possible Arizona gets another year post season ban and loses scholarships and Sean coaches in a Final Four next year.

[Spaceman Spiff]

By the way, if I was Sean Miller, my lawyer would already have a call in to the NCAA offering to provide evidence and testimony against Arizona in the IARP.

[MountainCat]

...I bet Miller gets another job and then just goes on a mission to dominate.

I bet he gets hired somewhere else within the next to weeks and takes most of our team with him as they all can transfer without penalty.

Watch him win the Big East next year... ... or someplace like that.

Seriously doubt he gets hired by an P5 school anytime soon.

Sean is radioactive. No AD is going to want to hire a coach who just got fired with an IARP investigation/judgement still out there. Sean may have to go the Euro route or perhaps work as an assistant/analyst in the NBA in the short term.

Not necessarily get hired as a head coach. Hired as an assistant and bring 3-4 players with him.

[TheCat]

So what is obvious to me and what I posted earlier when this was rumored was that the only way the timing made sense was that it had to be a coach in the final four. My thoughts being Huston's current coach (Sampson) that knows the PAC. I now believe that it is Lloyd. It will happen quickly and turn out as well as Washington hiring their long time Syracuse assistant. Disaster all around.

[gronk4heisman]

So what is obvious to me and what I posted earlier when this was rumored was that the only way the timing made sense was that it had to be a coach in the final four. My thoughts being Huston's current coach (Sampson) that knows the PAC. I now believe that it is Lloyd. It will happen quickly and turn out as well as Washington hiring their long time Syracuse assistant. Disaster all around.

Hopkins was also the "coach in waiting" at Syracuse

[Beachcat97]

Is there a guy with AZ ties who's more deserving of this job than, say, Lloyd?

[Irish27]

Lloyd's son plays on Grand Canyon's basketball team.

[gronk4heisman]

Is there a guy with AZ ties who's more deserving of this job than, say, Lloyd?

Brad Steven's dad is a doctor in Tucson. Maybe he can coach in between patients?

Damon - No
Simon - No
Walton - No
Pastner - No x3
Jet - slightly less no

[TheCat]

By the way, if I was Sean Miller, my lawyer would already have a call in to the NCAA offering to provide evidence and testimony against Arizona in the IARP.

So having worked with Lawyer's for many years investigating corporate wrongdoing (Sarbanes-Oxley SOX, Sexual Harassment, or any other wrong doing that involved executives) this purposes a interesting dynamic. U or A lawyers have only one client and that is the university. They will be doing everything they can now to lay this at the feet of Miller. Miller's interest were entwined with the University and I assume the University paid the defense bills. Whether the bills will now be the responsibility of Miller remains to be seen. They certainly have different clients now and different agendas.

[TheCat]

"Sources told ESPN that Arizona had been considering a contract extension for Miller, but the Board of Regents would not approve it because of the ongoing NCAA issues."

I want to know if this is true? I do not believe it is.

[BibbysTowelDude]

Mark Few can take the job and Heeke and Robbins can still get wrecked. They are losers.

[Irish27]

By the way, if I was Sean Miller, my lawyer would already have a call in to the NCAA offering to provide evidence and testimony against Arizona in the IARP.

So having worked with Lawyer's for many years investigating corporate wrongdoing (Sarbanes-Oxley SOX, Sexual Harassment, or any other wrong doing that involved executives) this purposes a interesting dynamic. U or A lawyers have only one client and that is the university. They will be doing everything they can now to lay this at the feet of Miller. Miller's interest were entwined with the University and I assume the University paid the defense bills. Whether the bills will now be the responsibility of Miller remains to be seen. They certainly have different clients now and different agendas.

Miller should go after ESPN, Schlabach, Vitale and Hansen.

[splitsecond]

All this talk and not one person has said anything about the fact that maybe, just maybe, watching Mick Fucking Cronin get to a final four in YEAR TWO with UCLA might have a little something to do with this.

I hate Heeke, Robbins and the ABOR as much as anyone here, but the reality is Sean Miller has done nothing but underperform for several years now. 12 years, no Final Four. Middlin' Mick: 2 years, final four.

I don't like the way it all came about and it is completely par for the course for the idiots that run the university. I also have nothing but love for Miller. But we all need to get out of the sunk cost fallacy and admit that it was time. We were not getting to a final four with Miller.

And if Final Fours and championships are not the goal, what the fuck is the point?

[AZCatGirl]

Well, time to go kick Robbins in the balls.

Actually I'd love to do more than that, but I don't want to end up in jail.

I've felt that Sean had the program off track for a few years, and didn't feel confident he could lead us to a Final 4 anymore. However, he did a soft reboot this past year, and I was more than willing to see how things played out this fall and beyond. He had more than earned another chance after all he has done for this program.

But now all that has been ruined by a President who cares more about his ego than anything else. He knew for months he was going to fire Sean, but instead forced this asinine post season ban on him in the hopes Sean would quit. Now he's lying to ESPN that it's ABOR's fault he wasn't extended.

Lute must be spinning in his grave. This is NOT how you treat someone. It's wrong, and there's a special place in hell for egotistical assholes like Bobby Robbins.

Arizona basketball has always been my favorite sport, but I might just be more a women's fan for awhile and treat the men as secondary. Never in a million years thought I'd say that, but here we are.

I remember Lute asking us to make sure Tucson is always a basketball town. It will be Lute, but it may not be in the way you meant. For the foreseeable future at least.

[Spaceman Spiff]

By the way, if I was Sean Miller, my lawyer would already have a call in to the NCAA offering to provide evidence and testimony against Arizona in the IARP.

So having worked with Lawyer's for many years investigating corporate wrongdoing (Sarbanes-Oxley SOX, Sexual Harassment, or any other wrong doing that involved executives) this purposes a interesting dynamic. U or A lawyers have only one client and that is the university. They will be doing everything they can now to lay this at the feet of Miller. Miller's interest were entwined with the University and I assume the University paid the defense bills. Whether the bills will now be the responsibility of Miller remains to be seen. They certainly have different clients now and different agendas.

Yeah, Arizona may try to lay it on Miller, but that's not what the NCAA wants to do. The NCAA always puts institutional sanctions ahead of personal sanctions.

Plus, the NCAA has one and only one allegation vs Miller and it's just failure to control. IMO, Miller cooperating with the NCAA would have far more juice than vice versa.

[scumdevils86]

I know Sean Miller would never see this, but I'd like to thank him.

He came to Arizona coming on the heels of the Lute, KO, Russ Pennell disaster of a transition. He turned us right back around, delivering four 30 win campaigns, three Elite 8s and three top 5 AP final rankings over the next eight seasons. He gave us amazing moments where we felt again what it was like under Lute's best years. He brought in top talent, and kept Arizona's name amongst the upper echelon of college basketball programs.

He deserved better than this.

Well said

[Beachcat97]

Is there a guy with AZ ties who's more deserving of this job than, say, Lloyd?

Brad Steven's dad is a doctor in Tucson. Maybe he can coach in between patients?

Damon - No
Simon - No
Walton - No
Pastner - No x3
Jet - slightly less no

The only thing more annoying than my friends celebrating today's news is their giddiness over possibly hiring Damon.

Since the moment has arrived where this conversation is no longer hypothetical, I'll cast a vote for Lloyd or Musselman. All great coaches were once assistants, and Lloyd has clearly been a big part of Gonzaga's emergence as a national power. I don't think we're getting Musselman; he's got Arkansas in a good place and hasn't been at that job long.

There are always a couple names no one can see coming. Any guesses? What's Tim Floyd up to these days?

[gronk4heisman]

Musselman is also in the cash loaded SEC, we are the lowly Pac 12 who can barely pay a coach on a top 25 program top 50 money.

[Spaceman Spiff]

Is there a guy with AZ ties who's more deserving of this job than, say, Lloyd?

Brad Steven's dad is a doctor in Tucson. Maybe he can coach in between patients?

Damon - No
Simon - No
Walton - No
Pastner - No x3
Jet - slightly less no

The only thing more annoying than my friends celebrating today's news is their giddiness over possibly hiring Damon.

Since the moment has arrived where this conversation is no longer hypothetical, I'll cast a vote for Lloyd or Musselman. All great coaches were once assistants, and Lloyd has clearly been a big part of Gonzaga's emergence as a national power. I don't think we're getting Musselman; he's got Arkansas in a good place and hasn't been at that job long.

There are always a couple names no one can see coming. Any guesses? What's Tim Floyd up to these days?

Mussleman is the only candidate you can make a straight faced case for being deserving of the Arizona job.

I think we can just leave it there on the names that are out there.

It would be funny to me if we fired a guy because he didn't make the Final Four in 17 years as a HC, then hired a guy who didn't make the Final Four in his first 17 years as an assistant. You can't sell me on Lloyd.

[BibbysTowelDude]

Gregg Marshall's second chance hahaha.

[AZCatGirl]

Well this should be a joke.

[Beachcat97]

It would be funny to me if we fired a guy because he didn't make the Final Four in 17 years as a HC, then hired a guy who didn't make the Final Four in his first 17 years as an assistant. You can't sell me on Lloyd.

So what more must Lloyd do, in your eyes, to merit consideration for a job like AZ? Does he need to have success at a smaller program? I think by the time you wait for a guy like Lloyd to better distinguish himself, you've sorta missed the bus. Coaching is always a little of a crapshoot. Taking a risk on a young assistant at an elite program is not the worst idea in the world.

And the bigger picture, of course, is that the next hire could completely backfire. This is the perspective we need to keep in mind with Sean Miller. There was absolutely no guarantee that he could keep us at or near the level Lute took us, but he did. Miller could've gone five seasons with first-round losses and middling Pac finishes, and maybe he would've been gone sooner. But again, he was successful beyond any reasonable expectations. The chances of getting that lucky again, with the next coach, are not great. This is why so many, myself included, are upset today.

[AzCatFan2]

Cronin getting to a Final Four in year two is just dumb luck. Which is needed to get far in the Tournament. Anyone around Tucson remembers the joke in the early 90s--Why don't you ever order a drink at Lute's bar? Because you always get kicked out of the first round (rim shot) Thank goodness the idiots that wanted to run Lute out of town didn't get their way.

Mussleman is one name that would placate me. But agreed, he has a good thing going at Arkansas, and Calipari's reign at Kentucky is slipping. And White at Florida is no Billy Donovan. Everyone else, meh. Damon hasn't had the results you would want to hire him at an Arizona. Walton isn't coming and Pastner, while coming off his best year at G-Tech, has his own NCAA issues, and hiring him after Miller would make us look worse. Simon? Sorry.

But we all know Lloyd is going to be the first guy we ask. It's Robbins' choice, and the meglomaniac thinks he always knows best about everything. It's likely Lloyd will take the job too. How often do assistants go from 2nd chair to first chair at a place like Arizona without cutting their teeth as a head guy at a smaller school first? Only example I can think of is Roy Williams, from UNC assistant to Kansas. That was over 30 years ago.

Never know what the future holds, but I'm not a fan of hiring assistants as head coaches who have no prior experience for a job like Arizona Basketball. One thing hiring a Fisch after Sumlin, as we have zero expectations next year for football, and if Fisch makes a few mistakes that cost us a game or two while he learns on the job, no big deal. But if Lloyd does that as Arizona Basketball Head Coach, different story. Our current roster truly has second weekend Tournament potential, which means, with some dumb luck, could be in the Final Four, assuming they stay together.

[CatFanOneMil]

The next hire will be a "rebound boyfriend"...no sense getting any hopes up for a long term successful hire at this point...

Money down the toilet...while money is running out...pay as little as possible and wait for a bigger fish.

[MountainCat]

What’s he going to say in his intro?

“Welcome to this meeting, let me turn the remaining time over to Bobby”

[Irish27]

Rick Pitino's wife has been spotted looking at houses in Tucson today.

[AZCatGirl]

It would be funny to me if we fired a guy because he didn't make the Final Four in 17 years as a HC, then hired a guy who didn't make the Final Four in his first 17 years as an assistant. You can't sell me on Lloyd.

So what more must Lloyd do, in your eyes, to merit consideration for a job like AZ? Does he need to have success at a smaller program? I think by the time you wait for a guy like Lloyd to better distinguish himself, you've sorta missed the bus. Coaching is always a little of a crapshoot. Taking a risk on a young assistant at an elite program is not the worst idea in the world.

And the bigger picture, of course, is that the next hire could completely backfire. This is the perspective we need to keep in mind with Sean Miller. There was absolutely no guarantee that he could keep us at or near the level Lute took us, but he did. Miller could've gone five seasons with first-round losses and middling Pac finishes, and maybe he would've been gone sooner. But again, he was successful beyond any reasonable expectations. The chances of getting that lucky again, with the next coach, are not great. This is why so many, myself included, are upset today.

I know you weren't asking me, but being an assistant at Gonzaga is literally the only job he's ever had. I don't see why a major program should take such a huge risk. Let's see how he does coaching a smaller school, or hell, ANY SCHOOL first.

[Irish27]

I disagree with anyone who says Damon has not done much. It's freaking Pacific and he has done an exceptional job since he has been there. I would not mind having Damon as the next coach.
Musselman has west coast ties and I would not be surprised if he wanted to get out of Arkansas,

[BibbysTowelDude]

Miller was at Xavier for 6 years. Head Coaching, running a prolific basketball program. Xavier isn't chopped liver folks. It's a fantastic basketball program. Even bounced us a few years ago, but yeah some like to act like it's Alaska-Anchorage...

This Lloyd guy is a nobody. You lose far more than the press conference.

If Damon was Deion from Rutgers nobody would be saying a word.