Sean Miller has returned home to Xavier. After Travis Steele and Xavier mutually agreed to part ways, the search for a new coach began quickly, with Xavier’s sights set on Miller.
Miller was offered both the South Carolina and Xavier jobs, and ultimately chose to return to Xavier, where he was previously the head coach from 2004-2009. On Friday, Miller was formally introduced as the next Xavier basketball coach.
Miller was greeted by a crowd of over 1,000 at Cintas Center, where he was accompanied by his wife Amy, who he has been married to for 29 years. At the introduction, Xavier President Colleen Hanycz, athletic director Greg Christopher, and Miller himself all spoke.
Hancyz began by stating that Xavier basketball has high expectations on the court and as a result received strong interest from a large number of candidates when the job came open. They zeroed in on their target candidates early in the search, and Miller was the frontrunner.
When Christopher spoke, he acknowledged there have been issues the NCAA has investigated with Miller and his Arizona program, but is confident those are in the past.
“We know what is accurate and what is not. We have talked to dozens of people and have complete confidence in Sean Miller,” Christopher said.
Miller did not address any of the violations he has been accused of during his speech, but said in a press conference later that he will address the issues when they need to be addressed.
Last time Miller was coaching at Xavier, they were in the A-10, not the Big East. However, Miller is quite familiar with the Big East from his time as a player, when he was the point guard at Pitt.
Miller is excited to coach in the Big East, and told the crowd, “The Big East is the best conference in the country.”
During Miller’s speech, he referenced his accomplishments as a coach, at Xavier and Arizona, which are quite impressive. Miller has 422 career wins, nine conference championships, and eleven NCAA appearances.
Besides his accomplishments on the court, he is extremely proud of his building of players into men and their success in school. At Arizona every player that stuck around for four years graduated. He said he was taught this important lesson by Sister Ann Fleming when he first came to Xavier.
Miller has been out of college basketball for an entire year, but he said that only made him more refreshed to be a coach again. He is anxious to lead and teach the Xavier University basketball program.
Miller's one request to Xavier fans was to buy as many tickets as you can for the upcoming season, because a full Cintas Center is one of the best environments in college basketball.
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