Sean Miller
Chippewa Township, Pennsylvania) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
College | Pittsburgh (1987–1992) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Position | Point guard | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Coaching career | 1992–present | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Career history | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
As coach: | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
1992–1993 | Wisconsin (graduate assistant) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
1993–1995 | Miami (OH) (assistant) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
1995–1996 | Pittsburgh (assistant) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
1996–2001 | NC State (assistant) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2001–2004 | Xavier (assistant) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2004–2009 | Xavier | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2009–2021 | Arizona | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2022–present | Xavier | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Career highlights and awards | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
As player:
As coach:
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Medals
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Sean Edward Miller (born November 17, 1968) is an American college basketball coach who currently serves as head coach of the Xavier Musketeers. He previously held that position from 2004 to 2009, after which he took the head coach position at the Arizona Wildcats, which he held until being fired in 2021.
Miller is a three-time gold medalist as a member of USA Basketball: once as a player, once as an assistant coach, and once as head coach. Miller has won five league Coach of the Year Awards: once in the A10, three in the Pac-12, and once as USA Basketball Coach of the Year.[1]
Playing career
Early years
Miller was born in
University of Pittsburgh
Miller played at Pitt from 1987 to 1992. Despite being a true freshman, he was the starting
Sean was on the all-Rookie team for the
Coaching career
Early years
After graduating from Pitt with a degree in communications in 1992, Miller took a graduate assistant position at Wisconsin. He then spent two seasons (1993–95) at Miami (Ohio) under Herb Sendek, during which the team made two postseason appearances.[6] He then returned to his alma mater of Pittsburgh for a season as an assistant under Ralph Willard.
In 1996, Miller rejoined Sendek at North Carolina State. In Miller's five years in Raleigh, the Wolfpack made four postseason appearances, including a run into the 2000 NIT semifinals.
Miller's next move was a return to southwestern
Xavier
Taking over as head coach at Xavier after Matta moved on to Ohio State, Miller took the Musketeers to four NCAA tournaments. Miller won three A-10 regular season championships and one A-10 conference tournament championship. In the 2008 NCAA tournament, the 3rd seeded Musketeers were eliminated in the Elite Eight by #1 seed UCLA after beating Georgia, Purdue and West Virginia. In 2009, Xavier was eliminated in the Sweet 16 by another #1 seed, Pittsburgh.
Arizona
After the tournament, Miller was announced to be a possible candidate for the vacant head coaching position at Arizona, which had spent two years under interim head coaches in the wake of the illness and retirement of Hall of Fame coach Lute Olson. He initially turned the job down before changing his mind and accepting the job on April 6, 2009, despite having never visited the Arizona campus.[7] He was succeeded at Xavier by former assistant Chris Mack. Within three months of joining the program, Miller had already assembled a recruiting class ranked #12 in the nation by Scout.com.[8] Miller led Arizona to a 16–15 record (10–8 in the Pacific-10 Conference) in his debut season, and the Wildcats missed postseason play for the first time in 25 years.
In the
For 2011–12's third season, Arizona's 2011 recruiting class was ranked 7th, notably signing Nick Johnson and Josiah Turner. Arizona secured three players in the top nine of the ESPNU 100, with all four newly signed players in the top 36. This cemented Arizona as the No. 1 signing class nationally, surpassing
In his fourth season, Miller guided the Wildcats to their second top-5 ranking in the AP poll (the first coming in weeks 7–10 of the 2012–2013 season[14]). Arizona reached the Sweet 16 in the 2013 NCAA tournament before falling to Ohio State and finished the season with an overall record of 27–8 and 12–6 in Pac-12.
On December 9, 2013, in Miller's fifth season as head coach of the Wildcats, Arizona became the #1 ranked team in the country for the 6th time in school history following a 9–0 start with wins over traditional national powerhouses Duke and UNLV. The Wildcats followed this up by securing a key come-from-behind victory on the road at Michigan on December 14 and led the Wildcats to their second outright Pac-12 regular season title (its 13th overall, 26th regular season overall). Arizona also secured its second unbeaten home record (18–0) and Coach Miller was again named the Pac-10/12 coach of the year. The Wildcats completed their fifth ever 30+ win season (2nd overall). In the NCAA tournament, Arizona made its second Elite Eight appearance (9th overall) of the Miller era, but fell to Wisconsin in overtime to finish the season with an overall record of 33–5, including 15–3 in Pac-12.
After Gonzaga's home loss to BYU on February 28, 2015, Arizona claimed the longest active home winning streak in D-I men's college basketball. Arizona defeated #13 Utah in Salt Lake City the same day, winning its share of the Pac-12 regular season title. After three losses to Pac-12 arch-rival Arizona State, Oregon State, and UNLV, Arizona won their third outright Pac-12 regular season championship title under Miller's leadership (Arizona's 14th Pac-12 regular season title, and 27th conference title overall). The Wildcats completed their sixth ever 30+ win season (3rd under Miller) and won their first Pac-12 Tournament title (5th overall) since 2002. In the 2015 NCAA tournament, the Wildcats would fall to Wisconsin for the second consecutive year in the Elite Eight, 85–78, finishing the season with a 34–4 record overall, 16–2 in Pac-12.
During the 2016–2017 he signed an extension through the 2022 season as the head coach of the Arizona Wildcats.[15] Miller has the 4th best conference winning percentage of any coach with at least 100 conference wins percentage(.743) only behind John Wooden, Lute Olson & Jim Harrick. He is tied for 20th in career conference victories at 107. On March 6, Miller won his 3rd Pac-12 Coach of the Year honor, second most in school history. Miller's Wildcats finished the Pac-12 regular season with a record of 27–4 plus a 16–2 in conference play which was good enough for co-champions 15th in school history & 2 seed in the Pac-12 tournament. They went on to defeat 7 seed Colorado, 3 seed Ucla & overall 1 seed Oregon for the Pac-12 Conference Championship, its 6th in school history and second under Miller. During the NCAA Selection process Miller and the Wildcats received a 2 seed in the West Region. They defeated 15 seed North Dakota 100–62 to reach the round of 32, 7 seed Saint Mary's 69–60 to reach the schools 19th sweet 16 where they lost to 11 seed Xavier in the West regional Semi-Final in San Jose, 71–73.
Miller has the most wins and best winning percentage in a 4-year span currently at 124 wins, while only losing 22 games for a .849 winning percentage. Miller is currently the winningest coach in the Pac-12, with a 76.9% winning percentage and an average of more than 27 wins a season at the end of his 8th season at Arizona.[16] Miller served as head coach for four of the seven seasons in Arizona history in which the team has won 30 or more games. His tenure at Arizona includes three undefeated home seasons and the second longest home winning streak (49 games) in McKale Center history.[17] Arizona is one of three Power 5 schools to win more than 25 games each season each of the last five seasons, joined by Duke and Kansas.
Miller has helped to improve the University of Arizona's facilities, overseeing an $80 million renovation to the McKale Center,[18] and the opening of the Cole and Jeannie Davis Strength and Conditioning Center at the Richard Jefferson Gymnasium—partly financed by a sizable donation from the Miller family.[19]
He was the subject of an investigation related to the
Miller began his 10th season as the Arizona head coach during the 2018–2019 season. After a victory against UTEP, Miller recorded his 250th win for Arizona (370th win overall), in only 324 games, which is the 5th fastest of any coach at any Division 1 program all-time.[23] Arizona ended the season 17−15, missing the NCAA tournament for only the 3rd time in the previous 34 seasons.
Miller would enter his 11th season at Arizona with yet another top 5 recruiting class & preseason ranked #21 in the AP poll. After defeating Wake Forest to win the Wooden Legacy, Arizona began the season 9−0. With a win over USC on February 6, Miller would win his 400th game in only 542 games, which was 22nd fastest.[24]
After 12 seasons as head coach, Miller was fired by Arizona on April 7, 2021.[25] On December 14, the IARP ruled in the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball corruption scandal Arizona & Miller were forced to vacate all regular-season, conference and NCAA Tournament wins in which Alkins competed during 2016-17 and 2017–18, plus the two exhibition games in Spain in August 2017 that Pinder played in. It reduced Arizona's record from 32–5 to 0–5 in 2016-17 and from 27–8 to 9–8 in 2017–18, when former guard Rawle Alkins played in 18 games. Miller would vacate 50 wins in his coaching record wherever he coaches collegiately. [26][27][28][29]
Xavier (2nd stint)
Miller was hired by Xavier on March 19, 2022, after having last coached at the school in 2009.[30] In his first season back at Xavier (2022-23) Miller lead the Musketeers to a 27-10 record which included a 2nd place finish in the BIG EAST regular season and being the Runner-Up at the BIG EAST Tournament. Xavier advanced to the Sweet 16, the 9th in program history, eventually losing to Texas.
Postseason Success
Miller’s teams he has been a part of at XU and Arizona since 2001 have appeared in 15 NCAA Tournaments. In 12 of those 15 years, the team advanced beyond the NCAA Tournament’s First Round, with four trips culminating in the Sweet 16 and five others in the Elite Eight. As a head coach, Miller’s teams have made it to 12 NCAA Tournaments since 2006. In nine of those 12 years, the team advanced beyond the NCAA Tournament’s First Round, with four trips culminating in the Sweet 16 and four others in the Elite Eight. [31]
Players in the NBA
Over the last 18 seasons as a head coach, Miller has seen 26 players that he has signed and/or coached move on to play professionally in the NBA, including Colby Jones, a 2023 NBA Draft second round selection (34th overall selection). Of these 26, 12 were selected in the First Round of the NBA Draft, including six NBA Lottery picks. The Lottery selections include the first overall pick in 2018 (Deandre Ayton), the second overall pick in 2011 (Derrick Williams) and the fourth overall pick in 2014 (Aaron Gordon). 2023-24 active players in the NBA (10): Aaron Gordon (Denver Nuggets), Bennedict Mathurin (Indiana Pacers), Christian Koloko (Toronto Raptors), Dalen Terry (Chicago Bulls), Deandre Ayton (Portland Trail Blazers), Josh Green (Dallas Mavericks), Lauri Markkanen (Utah Jazz), T.J. McConnell (Indiana Pacers), Zeke Nnaji (Denver Nuggets) and Colby Jones (Sacramento Kings). Gordon and Nnaji won the 2023 NBA World Championship with the Nuggets. [32]
International Recruiting
During his 12 seasons at Arizona, Miller signed a total of 13 international players. This group included six that would go on play in the NBA - highlighted by the first pick in the 2018 NBA Draft, Deandre Ayton (Bahamas), 2023 NBA All-Star and the 2023 NBA Most Improved Player Award winner Lauri Markkanen (Finland) and Bennedict Mathurin (Canada). Nine of Miller's international signees would be named All-Conference including 2022 Pac-12 Conference Player of the Year Bennedict Mathurin (Canada) and 2018 Pac-12 Conference Player of the Year Deandre Ayton (Bahamas). [33]
USA Basketball
Miller served as the head coach of the USA men's Under-19 junior national team, which competed at the 2015 FIBA Under-19 World Championship. The USA team ended up with a perfect 7–0 record and a gold medal. As a result of this performance, Miller was named the co-national coach of the year by USA basketball.[34][35] He was replaced in 2017 by close friend John Calipari as the head coach, ending his 2-year run.[36]
Personal life
Miller and his wife, Amy, have three sons (Austin, Cameron and Braden).[37] His brother, Archie Miller, is the men's basketball head coach at Rhode Island.
Head coaching record
Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Xavier Musketeers (Atlantic 10 Conference) (2004–2009) | |||||||||
2004–05 | Xavier | 17–12 | 10–6 | T–2nd (West) | |||||
2005–06 | Xavier | 21–11 | 8–8 | T–7th | NCAA Division I Round of 64 | ||||
2006–07 | Xavier | 25–9 | 13–3 | T–1st | NCAA Division I Round of 32 | ||||
2007–08 | Xavier | 30–7 | 14–2 | 1st | NCAA Division I Elite Eight | ||||
2008–09 | Xavier | 27–8 | 12–4 | 1st | NCAA Division I Sweet 16 | ||||
Arizona Wildcats (Pacific-10/Pac-12 Conference) (2009–2021) | |||||||||
2009–10 | Arizona | 16–15 | 10–8 | 4th | |||||
2010–11 | Arizona | 30–8 | 14–4 | 1st | NCAA Division I Elite Eight | ||||
2011–12 | Arizona | 23–12 | 12–6 | 4th | NIT First Round | ||||
2012–13 | Arizona | 27–8 | 12–6 | T–2nd | NCAA Division I Sweet 16 | ||||
2013–14 | Arizona | 33–5 | 15–3 | 1st | NCAA Division I Elite Eight | ||||
2014–15 | Arizona | 34–4 | 16–2 | 1st | NCAA Division I Elite Eight | ||||
2015–16 | Arizona | 25–9 | 12–6 | T–3rd | NCAA Division I Round of 64 | ||||
2016–17 | Arizona | 32–5* | 16–2* | T–1st* | NCAA Division I Sweet 16* | ||||
2017–18 | Arizona | 27–8* | 14–4* | 1st* | NCAA Division I Round of 64* | ||||
2018–19 | Arizona | 17–15 | 8–10 | T–8th | |||||
2019–20 | Arizona | 21–11 | 10–8 | T–5th | |||||
2020–21 | Arizona | 17–9 | 11–9 | 5th | |||||
Arizona: | 302*–109 (.735) | 153*–74 (.674) | |||||||
Xavier Musketeers (Big East Conference) (2022–present) | |||||||||
2022–23 | Xavier | 27–10 | 15–5 | 2nd | NCAA Division I Sweet 16 | ||||
2023–24 | Xavier | 16–18 | 9–11 | T–9th | NIT First Round | ||||
Xavier: | 163–75 (.685) | 81–39 (.675) | |||||||
Total: | 465–184 (.716)* | ||||||||
National champion
Postseason invitational champion
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* The NCAA vacated 32 wins from the 2016–17 season, and 18 wins from the 2017–18 season as a result of the 2017–18 NCAA men's basketball corruption scandal. The players involved in the scandal played in every game in the 2016–17 & 23 games in the 2017–18 season, resulting in a 9–8 record.[38][39][40]
References
- ^ "2015 USA Basketball National Coach of the Year". Archived from the original on December 21, 2015.
- ^ a b c d "Coach Bio: Sean Miller – Men's Basketball". Xavier University Athletics. Retrieved May 15, 2007.
- ^ "Recognize This Kid? - ESPN Video - ESPN". archive.is. July 13, 2012. Archived from the original on July 13, 2012. Retrieved September 24, 2019.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved September 24, 2019.
- ^ Fittipaldo, Ray. (March 26, 2009) Ex-teammates knew Miller would be a success | Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Archived March 29, 2009, at the Wayback Machine. Postgazette.com. Retrieved on March 20, 2016.
- ^ "Miami University Men's Basketball Media Supplement 2013–14" (PDF). MURedHawks.com. Miami University. 2013. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 3, 2014. Retrieved March 24, 2014.
- ^ Katz, Andy (April 6, 2009). "Xavier's Miller accepts Arizona job". ESPN.com.
- ^ Pascoe, Bruce (July 4, 2009). "Freshmen mean array of options". Arizona Daily Star. Retrieved July 4, 2009.
- ^ Finley, Patrick (March 6, 2011). "'Home-court dominance' reigns". Arizona Daily Star. Retrieved March 7, 2011.
- ^ 2016 Basketball Class Rankings – ESPN. Espn.go.com. Retrieved on March 20, 2016.
- ^ Arizona coach Sean Miller is reconstructing a college basketball giant. Espn.go.com (November 8, 2011). Retrieved on March 20, 2016.
- ^ 2016 Basketball Class Rankings – ESPN. Espn.go.com. Retrieved on March 20, 2016.
- ^ 2016 Basketball Class Rankings – ESPN. Espn.go.com. Retrieved on March 20, 2016.
- ^ NCAA College Basketball Polls, College Basketball Rankings, NCAA Basketball Polls – ESPN. Espn.go.com. Retrieved on March 20, 2016.
- ^ "U of A Extends Miller". Retrieved February 2, 2017.
- ^ "Sean Miller Coaching Record".
- ^ "Arizona 2016–17 Media Guide" (PDF). Arizona.SidearmSports.com. University of Arizona. 2016.
- ^ "Project 13-9191 | Planning Design & Construction".
- ^ "Richard Jefferson Gymnasium".
- ^ Schlabach, Mark (February 23, 2018). "FBI wiretaps show Sean Miller discussed $100K payment to lock recruit". www.espn.com. ESPN. Retrieved February 24, 2018.
- ^ "Sean Miller won't coach Arizona's game Saturday vs. Oregon". www.espn.com. ESPN. February 24, 2018. Retrieved February 24, 2018.
- ^ "Sean Miller staying at Arizona amid FBI probe". SI.com. Retrieved September 24, 2019.
- ^ "Milestone victory". Tucson.com. February 24, 2018. Retrieved November 14, 2018.
- ^ "No. 23 Arizona Holds On For 85-80 Win Over USC". February 6, 2020. Retrieved February 6, 2020.
- ^ "Arizona Wildcats fire men's basketball coach Sean Miller". ESPN. April 7, 2021. Retrieved April 7, 2021.
- ^ "IARP ruling a major victory for Wildcats, who avoid significant penalty in infractions case".
- ^ "NCAA Statistics Coaching Statistics".
- ^ "2016-17 Arizona Wildcat Season".
- ^ "2017-18 Arizona Wildcat Season".
- ^ Eisen, Tom; Xavier Athletic Communications (March 19, 2022). "Sean Miller Returns As Head Men's Basketball Coach at Xavier University" (Press release). Xavier Musketeers. Retrieved March 19, 2022.
- ^ Eiser, Tom; Xavier Athletic Communications (March 25, 2024). "Sean Miller". Xavier Musketeers. Retrieved March 25, 2024.
- ^ Eiser, Tom; Xavier Athletic Communications (March 25, 2024). "Sean Miller". Xavier Musketeers. Retrieved March 25, 2024.
- ^ Eiser, Tom; Xavier Athletic Communications (March 25, 2024). "Sean Miller". Xavier Musketeers. Retrieved March 25, 2024.
- ^ "Gold-Medal Winning USA Coaches Sean Miller And Dawn Staley Share 2015 USA Basketball National Coach Of The Year Award". USA Basketball. December 16, 2015. Archived from the original on December 18, 2015. Retrieved December 22, 2015.
- ^ "Staley Named USA Basketball Co-National Coach of the Year". thestate.com. December 16, 2015. Retrieved December 22, 2015.
- ^ "Kentucky's John Calipari to coach U.S. U-19 team". February 16, 2017.
- ^ Sean Miller Biography – The University of Arizona Official Athletic Site Archived January 22, 2014, at the Wayback Machine. Arizonawildcats.com. Retrieved on March 20, 2016.
- ^ "NCAA Career Statistics".
- ^ "2016-17 Arizona Basketball Season".
- ^ "2017-18 Arizona Basketball Season".