Bear Down Wildcats

http://www.arizonawildcats.com/ViewArti ... =209516891

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Fresh off of advancing to his third Elite Eight as a college head coach and leading UA to the second-best single-season win total in program history, University of Arizona head men’s basketball coach Sean Miller has been elected to the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) board of directors.

The Beaver Falls, Pa., native will join the NABC board of directors alongside Minnesota State head coach Matt Margenthaler.

A three-time NABC district coach of the year (District 10 in 2008, District 20 in both 2011 and 2014), Miller has compiled a 129-48 (.729) record in five seasons at Arizona and a 249-95 (.724) mark in 10 seasons as a head coach. He has guided the Wildcats to three Sweet 16s and a pair of Elite Eights (2011, 2014), and is one of five coaches nationally to lead teams to at least five Sweet 16 berths since 2008.

Miller directed Arizona to one of the finest seasons in the storied history of the program in 2013-14, going 33-5 and winning the Pac-12 regular-season championship before culminating the season in Elite Eight. Ranked No. 1 in the nation for a program-record eight-consecutive weeks during the season, UA also set program standards for best start (21-0) and longest winning streak (21 games) during the 2013-14 campaign.

For his efforts, Miller added Pac-12 Coach of the Year honors to the Pac-10 Coach of the Year trophy he earned in 2011. He currently ranks fifth on Arizona’s career coaching wins list, and needs eight victories to pass Bruce Larson (136) for fourth place.

Under Miller’s guidance, Derrick Williams earned 2010 Pac-10 Freshman of the Year and 2011 Pac-10 Player of the Year honors before being selected second overall in 2011 NBA Draft. Former UA stars Nick Johnson and Aaron Gordon were named Pac-12 Player and Freshman of the Year, respectively, in 2014.

Gordon, Johnson and Williams all earned All-America honors during their tenures in Tucson, with Johnson narrowly missing out on consensus honors following a stellar 2013-14 season.

Miller’s first four years in Tucson have produced a total of three NBA Draft picks, including first-rounders Williams and Solomon Hill, who was selected 23rd overall by the Indiana Pacers in 2013. UA has a chance to add to that total by two later this month with Gordon and Johnson among the pool of candidates from which teams will select in Brooklyn.

Under Miller’s direction, the UA program has also experienced success off the court, as evidenced by its most recent multi-year APR score of 984, which reflects the first four years of Miller’s tenure. The Wildcats produced single-year APR scores of 1,000 in both 2010-11 and 2011-12.

Miller will serve as an assistant coach for the 2014 USA Basketball Men’s U18 National Team this summer when it trains for and competes in the FIBA Americas U18 Championship in Colorado Springs, Colo. He was a court coach at the 2011 USA Basketball Men’s World University Games Team training camp and won a gold medal while playing for Team USA at the 1991 World University Games.

The NABC has nearly 5,000 members consisting primarily of university and college men’s basketball coaches. All members of the NABC are expected to uphold the core values of being a Guardian of the Game by bringing attention to the positive aspects of the sport of basketball and the role coaches play in the academic and athletic lives of today’s student-athletes. The four core values of being a Guardian of the Game are advocacy, leadership, service and education.

For the latest updates on Arizona men’s basketball and an inside look at the program, follow @APlayersProgram on Twitter and @uaplayersprogram on Instagram.

Very nice article - thanks for posting it.

Congrats to Coach! Seems like a good honor.

We are beyond lucky to have him as our coach. Great things ahead.

We need a basketball topic on top. Sean Miller could beat up your coach.

[youtube]sFjFUjHWkmw[/youtube]

All members of the NABC are expected to uphold the core values of being a Guardian of the Game by bringing attention to the positive aspects of the sport of basketball and the role coaches play in the academic and athletic lives of today’s student-athletes. The four core values of being a Guardian of the Game are advocacy, leadership, service and education.

Dang. So no Scott-bashing.

ABOR says yes to raises and retention plan.

http://azstarnet.com/sports/basketball/ ... 963f4.html

UA president, secret donor think out of the box to keep Big 3


The genesis of a sports booster’s $17.68 million stock donation to the University of Arizona originated from the simplest idea: UA president Ann Weaver Hart wanted to ensure athletic director Greg Byrne could not easily be wooed by the highest outside bidder.

Hart and the anonymous donor began working on the retention plan almost a year ago. Both sensed that the UA’s Big 3 — Byrne, basketball coach Sean Miller, football coach Rich Rodriguez — are in the prime of their career. At Arizona, now is the time.

Losing any or all of them could cripple the school’s ability to compete effectively in the ambitious Pac-12 and on a national stage.

The donor insisted on three commendable variables:

http://azstarnet.com/hansen-s-sunday-no ... f887a.html

:tup:

WTG Weaver-Hart!

Love love love love love it. Great plan. She sees the value a healthy AD can provide to the academic mission of a university.

I remember hearing all of the misogynists come out of the woodwork bashing Hart when she was first hired saying how she was anti-sports, etc.

Where are they now?

Alieberman wrote:I remember hearing all of the misogynists come out of the woodwork bashing Hart when she was first hired saying how she was anti-sports, etc.

Where are they now?

Complaining about Doris Burke.

gumby wrote:

All members of the NABC are expected to uphold the core values of being a Guardian of the Game by bringing attention to the positive aspects of the sport of basketball and the role coaches play in the academic and athletic lives of today’s student-athletes. The four core values of being a Guardian of the Game are advocacy, leadership, service and education.

Dang. So no Scott-bashing.

I would think pointing out when someone has touched the ball qualifies as advocacy.

Spaceman Spiff wrote:

gumby wrote:

All members of the NABC are expected to uphold the core values of being a Guardian of the Game by bringing attention to the positive aspects of the sport of basketball and the role coaches play in the academic and athletic lives of today’s student-athletes. The four core values of being a Guardian of the Game are advocacy, leadership, service and education.

Dang. So no Scott-bashing.

I would think pointing out when someone has touched the ball qualifies as advocacy.

Sound more like education. . . or leadership.

Miller time! (click on link for full article)


USA's U18 team keeps Arizona coach Miller busy
3 hours ago • By Bruce Pascoe

Gaining recruiting cred (even if unintended):

Miller says the USA Basketball experience is not a “recruiting forum,” an event too important to consider the recruiting implications even as some of his commits (Justin Simon, Tyler Dorsey) and targets (Allonzo Trier, Stephen Zimmerman, Isaiah Briscoe) from the class of 2015 will be a part of the training camp.

“To me it takes away from USA Basketball if you go in there as a coach with the intent of recruiting,” Miller said. “That’s not what this is about. What it’s about is building a team, coaching that team and winning a gold medal.


Even so, it can’t hurt that the prospects see Miller as a respected-enough coach to be a part of the prestigious organization, on a staff with head coach Billy Donovan of Florida. And the players will get a chance to see how Miller operates on the floor, instead of just hearing about it.

First-hand evaluation:

While the top prospects can watch Miller, he can see them in a different light, too. Even though Miller says he’s focused strictly on the USA Basketball context this month, he’ll have a chance to gain a better feel for what the nation’s top prospects are like on the floor, instead of just watching them or talking to them.

This could help Miller in the future when the Wildcats face one of these players on another team, or help him gain additional knowledge about the habits of those he is recruiting.



Specifically, the extra knowledge could help with 2015 guard evaluations. Miller already has commitments from Simon and Dorsey but remains interested in Briscoe and just last week also offered a scholarship to Trier, a guard from Seattle and Oklahoma City who was a late invitee to the U18 camp.

Bonding with Stanley:

Miller will also get a chance to work with the one player he is certain of having at Arizona – incoming freshman Stanley Johnson – who is also a near-certainty of making the team.

“It would be a nice two-and-a-half week time for us together,” Miller said.




http://azstarnet.com/sports/basketball/ ... 76458.html

I know how excited 97cats was about the USA Basketball thing, and I'm starting to see why. Great stuff. Thanks for the link HiCat!

USA, USA, USA

Chicat wrote:I know how excited 97cats was about the USA Basketball thing, and I'm starting to see why.

That's because he gets to see his two favorite coaches together on the sidelines.

CSM is #1 on the list of possible successors. I love the respect CSM is finally getting:

If Calipari Left Tomorrow

Sean Miller, Arizona head coach. The question is whether Miller would leave a similarly stacked program, especially after he agreed last month to a new contract extension through 2019. Of course, that wouldn’t stop Kentucky from pursuing him if it wanted him, especially when Miller’s base salary is a mere $1.6 million. Miller has signed nine top-100 recruits, per Scout.com, between 2012 and ’14 and won 72 percent of his games at Xavier and Arizona. He’s taken his teams to three Elite Eights in the past seven years, including two in the last four with the Wildcats. No, he hasn’t been to a Final Four, but he’s undoubtedly one of the best coaches in the country.

http://college-basketball.si.com/2014/0 ... d=si_ncaab

Miller says pieces in place for a 'deep run'


3 hours ago • By Bruce Pascoe

How many (2015) signees are you looking for in the fall?

A: “We don’t have that worked out yet. I think a class of five, of which Ryan (Anderson, a transfer from Boston College who will sit out next season) is one, is probable. Then as the year moves forward we would have the opportunity to add one. … This is a pivotal class, like all six of the previous ones were at one point. One particular class might not be as big as the next, but in this case it’s not true. The way it is now, you generally are bringing in classes of four and five (every year).”

Do you feel you’re where you’d be at after five years?

A: “In one sense, yes. I think I said this a long time ago — you want to compete for Final Fours, compete for national championships and that’s what Arizona did so well with coach (Lute) Olson forever. It’s not just the fact that it happened X number of times. It’s the fact that it could have happened 15 times. Now you can make the argument that we’re in the mix; we can make a run competing for Pac-12 championships, etc.

“With that, recruiting is the lifeblood but also development, with Nick Johnson being a great example. As much as it was about the incoming group of players last year — they were a big part of the story, with T.J. (McConnell), Rondae (Hollis-Jefferson) and Aaron (Gordon) — just as important was Nick Johnson’s development, going from his sophomore to junior year and just taking a huge step forward.

“So simultaneous to recruiting it’s also that the most important players are the ones we already have. Who will be that guy from last year’s team that makes that significant jump? Maybe there’s a couple that will, and I think that would be as pivotal to next season’s success as the new class.”

http://azstarnet.com/sports/basketball/ ... 6e38b.html

Is it basketball season yet???

Ih8assu wrote:Is it basketball season yet???

That "milk and cookies" presser was a classic.

“Yes. He appreciates Arizona. He enjoys being with us.”

Donovan approves.

http://espn.go.com/blog/collegebasketba ... -right-now

Ih8assu wrote:Is it basketball season yet???

Arizona basketball never stops. Regular season. Recruiting season. USA basketball season.

http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketb ... n-calipari

from Gary Parrish:

Now I'm not sure how many of you fancy yourselves as recruiting experts. But even casual followers of player-grabs must realize that what Arizona is doing is some kind of impressive. Still, I bet most don't realize just how impressive. So I did the math early this morning, and the following list is something you might find interesting.

FIVE-STAR PROSPECTS COMMITTED IN PAST FIVE CLASSES

Kentucky: 16
Arizona: 10
Duke: 7
Kansas: 5
North Carolina: 5
UCLA: 5
What those numbers show, I think, are two things:

Traditional powers still have an inherent advantage with elite prospects.
Sean Miller might really go down as the winningest coach in Arizona history.

final 4s the last 5 years:

kentucky: 3
duke: 1
kansas: 1
north carolina:0
ucla: 0
arizona: 0

it is time. we are recruiting and having by far the most regular season success of anyone without final 4s.

Sean Miller might really go down as the winningest coach in Arizona history.

Parrish the thought.

ASUHATER! wrote:final 4s the last 5 years:

kentucky: 3
duke: 1
kansas: 1
north carolina:0
ucla: 0
arizona: 0

it is time. we are recruiting and having by far the most regular season success of anyone without final 4s.

It will happen. The key to winning a NC is to be consistently knocking on the door. Sooner or later, you get in. How do you get that consistency? Talent. We're in the right hands.

Note: the above applies unless you are UConn. In that case, you are basically not in the national title picture until you actually play for the national title.

Sean Miller - Not under the radar.

It is time

Took Bo Ryan over a decade to reach the FF. Granted, Wisconsin doesn't get the same level of talent that we do, but there's a rather long list of good coaches who either took a long time to reach the FF, or worse, never reached the FF.

I do think Miller gets there this year, however. Too much MASSIVE on the roster not to.

Spaceman Spiff wrote:
It will happen. The key to winning a NC is to be consistently knocking on the door. Sooner or later, you get in. How do you get that consistency? Talent. We're in the right hands.

Note: the above applies unless you are UConn. In that case, you are basically not in the national title picture until you actually play for the national title.

Oh, you mean kinda like Germany?

Puerco wrote:

Spaceman Spiff wrote:
It will happen. The key to winning a NC is to be consistently knocking on the door. Sooner or later, you get in. How do you get that consistency? Talent. We're in the right hands.

Note: the above applies unless you are UConn. In that case, you are basically not in the national title picture until you actually play for the national title.

Oh, you mean kinda like Germany?

Nah, they're too dependent on Dirk.

Sean Miller, Arizona head coach.

He'd surely sit near the top of the wish list, if not outright representing the favored choice of Tar Heels faithful. He's won 72 percent of his games at Xavier and Arizona, and he's drawing elite talent to Tucson on a conveyor belt: CBS noted recently that Arizona's 10 five-star signees in the past five recruiting classes is outpaced only by Kentucky's 16. So the question isn't whether UNC wants Miller. It's whether Miller already has a job that's as good or better. He has a machine humming with the Wildcats, who were No. 1 for a large chunk of 2013-14 and should be title contenders again next season. He has a lucrative and creative contract through 2019 that includes a small stake in an oil and gas company that's currently worth more than $6 million, which he gets in a lump sum if he stays through the end of the deal. Miller has it good enough at Arizona to raise doubt about whether it would be any better in Chapel Hill.​

Sean Miller, Arizona head coach.

Miller probably would be at the top of the wish list for many high-profile job openings. There's nothing wrong with Michigan State shooting high, either, but the question is whether Miller would leave an arguably better-stacked program, especially after just agreeing to a lucrative new contract extension through 2019. Miller's teams at Xavier and Arizona have made three Elite Eights in the past seven years, but Michigan State would be counting on a Pennsylvania native, Pittsburgh grad and former head coach at an Ohio school having a burning desire to return to the Midwest.

good blurbs there. anything can happen and i *could* see miller going to unc or michigan state or syracuse or something when all 3 of those jobs open up within 4 years, but with that contract (and his probable pay raise after this season) and his lockdown on the title of "imperator and dictator of the western basketball legions" helps things. sure you don't necessarily have to do any rebuilding at a place like unc or syracuse because of the programs that they are...but when you have such a good situation here at arizona, do you really want to start over again moving the wife and doing a minor rebuilding job at age almost 50 or so when you're set up for the next 10+ more years until retirement here? miller doesn't seem like a chase the money guy, but the only way i see him leaving arizona in the next 5 years (he either leaves by 2019 or he's here til retirement) is if some nba team or a team like unc or syracuse or something offers him $6+ million a year in salary since by a couple years from now his actual salary plus a potential payout from the investment could be nearly that much a year in general worth.

gumby wrote:

Sean Miller might really go down as the winningest coach in Arizona history.

Parrish the thought.

Perhaps - the Morales not low

ASUHATER! wrote:good blurbs there. anything can happen and i *could* see miller going to unc or michigan state or syracuse or something when all 3 of those jobs open up within 4 years

UNC maybe, Michigan State and Syracuse are an absolutely zero chance.

eff

U
N
C.

I think there are other intangibles that Miller cares about. Like academic integrity and reading.

Burning desire to return to the midwest?

Where did that come from? Amy, is that you?

Merkin wrote:Burning desire to return to the midwest?

Where did that come from? Amy, is that you?

Can we bring back the thread about the grass not growing. That was a beaut.

ASUHATER! wrote:good blurbs there. anything can happen and i *could* see miller going to unc or michigan state or syracuse or something when all 3 of those jobs open up within 4 years, but with that contract (and his probable pay raise after this season) and his lockdown on the title of "imperator and dictator of the western basketball legions" helps things. sure you don't necessarily have to do any rebuilding at a place like unc or syracuse because of the programs that they are...but when you have such a good situation here at arizona, do you really want to start over again moving the wife and doing a minor rebuilding job at age almost 50 or so when you're set up for the next 10+ more years until retirement here? miller doesn't seem like a chase the money guy, but the only way i see him leaving arizona in the next 5 years (he either leaves by 2019 or he's here til retirement) is if some nba team or a team like unc or syracuse or something offers him $6+ million a year in salary since by a couple years from now his actual salary plus a potential payout from the investment could be nearly that much a year in general worth.

I've said it before, but the longer he stays here and the more success he has, the more it demonstrates that he has everything he could want here. Do that and we're in good shape no matter who comes calling. Why leave the sure thing you've already built to try to build someone else to that level?

I notice that with rising temps in the summer, there is rising speculation about Miller leaving. Isn't he Maryland's coach yet?

Olsondogg wrote:I notice that with rising temps in the summer, there is rising speculation about Miller leaving. Isn't he Maryland's coach yet?

This is the price of having a really good basketball coach.

KaibabKat wrote:

Shaka all the way.

In regards to Miller I don't see the point in him leaving for other schools he's already recruiting better than.

Olsondogg wrote:I notice that with rising temps in the summer, there is rising speculation about Miller leaving. Isn't he Maryland's coach yet?

For what it's worth, this song explains why we wouldn't deal with these rumors if we'd hired Tim Floyd.

[youtube]9NF5XU-k2Vk[/youtube]

97cats wrote:Sean Miller, Arizona head coach.

Your avatar doesn't show up. Not sure if its a problem on my end or what...

Nothing has changed my opinion that if/when Miller leaves AZ, it will be to the NBA before returning to a premier CBB program and ridiculous salary to end his career. I think we have until his kids get out of high school.

I have no basis for this claim other than intuition.

I hope he stays at AZ forever and wins 5+ titles.