2024 Coaching Carousel

[MUbiz]

Hard to believe Miller would leave X to go to OSU. He has a great gig at X. But, you never know what these guys are thinking.

X is opening a medical school in 2027 and the president wants to put resources towards that and cut back on basketball.  It has been a real point of contention with the X boosters the last few months.

https://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/education/2023/05/10/xavier-university-to-launch-college-of-osteopathic-medicine-in-2027/70197017007/

[MU Fan in Connecticut]

X is opening a medical school in 2027 and the president wants to put resources towards that and cut back on basketball.  It has been a real point of contention with the X boosters the last few months.

https://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/education/2023/05/10/xavier-university-to-launch-college-of-osteopathic-medicine-in-2027/70197017007/

I hadn't heard that.  I heard (and collaborates with what my daughter said) the President is a big backer of Xavier BB and sees it as a large promoter of the university.  They were looking at adding football to drive more male enrollment which has been pushed way out for the foreseeable future.

I came across a Xavier podcast a week ago.  What I got out it.
* Miller is a great coach and will always be in demand and his name will always be mentioned when these jobs are available.
* They don't think Miller would leave for Ohio State.  He truly does love coaching at Xavier.  But added you never know.
* Miller may have long term concerns about the financial health of XU, NIL, the amount XU spends on BB and there were a few other minor things.  They noted:
     * The President continues to address and already made several steps to address the financials of the university so this is not being ignored. (This has been in the
        news the last 3 years.)
     * Increasing NIL is supposedly being addressed also.
     * They want XU to spend on basketball what UConn, Marquette and Georgetown do.  Something was remodeled in the Cintas this past summer and they have
        plans for other Cintas changes to maximize revenue.
     * And if in 1, 2, 3 years out there is no progress on the areas of possible concern, then he can still leave anytime as he will be in demand.
     

[The Hippie Satan of Hyperbole]

Is Miller a "great" coach?

[warriorchick]

X is opening a medical school in 2027 and the president wants to put resources towards that and cut back on basketball.  It has been a real point of contention with the X boosters the last few months.

If X's basketball program isn't self-sustaining, they are doing something wrong.

[Galway Eagle]

Is Miller a "great" coach?

I think he's proven to be good from his (excluding this year) tenure at X but I always thought he under performed at Zona relative to talent and expectations so I'd question great as well.

[wadesworld]

He has a .720 career winning percentage overall.  He won the Pac12 5 times in 12 seasons at Arizona.  Made 7 of 11 NCAA Tournaments at Arizona, never as a seed lower than a 6 (they were only higher than a 6 seed once in the 6 years prior to him taking over).  Has made 4 Elite 8s and 4 other Sweet 16s.  21-12 NCAA Tournament record.  If he's not great, he's pretty dang good.

[MUbiz]

If X's basketball program isn't self-sustaining, they are doing something wrong.

It is self-sustaining, but the institutional support plays a large part. We are very lucky to have Lovell as the president; but there is always a chance that the next president would not support the program as much as Lovell, making it hard to attract coaches, keep facilities up to date etc. There is a big difference between being self-sustaining and wanting to spend the extra cash to have a top program. There is a reason Shaka mentions the alignment between the president and AD at MU five plus times a year.

[MUbiz]

I hadn't heard that.  I heard (and collaborates with what my daughter said) the President is a big backer of Xavier BB and sees it as a large promoter of the university.  They were looking at adding football to drive more male enrollment which has been pushed way out for the foreseeable future.

I came across a Xavier podcast a week ago.  What I got out it.
* Miller is a great coach and will always be in demand and his name will always be mentioned when these jobs are available.
* They don't think Miller would leave for Ohio State.  He truly does love coaching at Xavier.  But added you never know.
* Miller may have long term concerns about the financial health of XU, NIL, the amount XU spends on BB and there were a few other minor things.  They noted:
     * The President continues to address and already made several steps to address the financials of the university so this is not being ignored. (This has been in the
        news the last 3 years.)
     * Increasing NIL is supposedly being addressed also.
     * They want XU to spend on basketball what UConn, Marquette and Georgetown do.  Something was remodeled in the Cintas this past summer and they have
        plans for other Cintas changes to maximize revenue.
     * And if in 1, 2, 3 years out there is no progress on the areas of possible concern, then he can still leave anytime as he will be in demand.
   

There are some boosters behind the scenes that are not happy with the president's commitment to the basketball program.  They see the top 3 teams making a commitment and they want more from the university.  I have family in Cincinnati and they have told me this for a few years now. X got somewhat lucky last year with Souley Boum being the best transfer in the BE, then Miller did an incredible job taking the roster and getting the most out of them as X had been middle of the pack before he took over.  All of your remediation steps make sense (more NIL, better facilities etc.) but the question remains is it enough to keep Miller around.  I hope it is  enough, as having big name coaches is very important for the BE, but I would not be surprised for a second if Miller left for OSU.

[Galway Eagle]

He has a .720 career winning percentage overall.  He won the Pac12 5 times in 12 seasons at Arizona.  Made 7 of 11 NCAA Tournaments at Arizona, never as a seed lower than a 6 (they were only higher than a 6 seed once in the 6 years prior to him taking over).  Has made 4 Elite 8s and 4 other Sweet 16s.  21-12 NCAA Tournament record.  If he's not great, he's pretty dang good.

That's sort of my point (at Zona) he had talent and recourses where not a single final four seems like an issue. I'd certainly take him in a heart beat if we didn't also have a good coach but I think it's worth pointing out that with an awful lot of nba talent at Zona he never got to weekend 3.

[Lennys Tap]

It is self-sustaining, but the institutional support plays a large part. We are very lucky to have Lovell as the president; but there is always a chance that the next president would not support the program as much as Lovell, making it hard to attract coaches, keep facilities up to date etc. There is a big difference between being self-sustaining and wanting to spend the extra cash to have a top program. There is a reason Shaka mentions the alignment between the president and AD at MU five plus times a year.

+1. Remember when the Poet took over MU? He was only here briefly but did plenty of damage.

[MUbiz]

+1. Remember when the Poet took over MU? He was only here briefly but did plenty of damage.

That was terrible and a memory that I have put out of my mind. Look at Georgetown if you want an example of how an administration can run down a program. So much nepotism and incompetence.

[TSmith34, Inc.]

He has a .720 career winning percentage overall.  He won the Pac12 5 times in 12 seasons at Arizona.  Made 7 of 11 NCAA Tournaments at Arizona, never as a seed lower than a 6 (they were only higher than a 6 seed once in the 6 years prior to him taking over).  Has made 4 Elite 8s and 4 other Sweet 16s.  21-12 NCAA Tournament record.  If he's not great, he's pretty dang good.

With the advent of NIL, Miller lost his competitive advantage of illicit bag drops. He's not so great on an even playing field.

[MU Fan in Connecticut]

I think he's proven to be good from his (excluding this year) tenure at X but I always thought he under performed at Zona relative to talent and expectations so I'd question great as well.

He expected to have to two Senior starters this season before season ending injuries before the season and the rest are all underclassmen.  He has them at .500 with what I think was rated the 4th most difficult schedule this season per the announcers on Sunday.

[Its DJOver]

He expected to have to two Senior starters this season before season ending injuries before the season and the rest are all underclassmen.  He has them at .500 with what I think was rated the 4th most difficult schedule this season per the announcers on Sunday.

Eh, Olivari, McKnight, and Ousmane are all in either their 4th or 5th years.  I'm not 100% sure of the timeline of those guys coming and others getting hurt, but it is not just underclassmen.  That's the risk that you play when you rely as heavily on the portal as he has, a Souley Boum level player is not always there to get. I'd give him a pass this year because of the injuries, but it's clear that he's gotta focus more on the development of four year players rather than buying a new team every year, and that has never seemed like his strong suit.

[swoopem]

+1. Remember when the Poet took over MU? He was only here briefly but did plenty of damage.

Pilarz is the worst. He closed Angelo's and ruined FFP. He can never be forgiven

[Galway Eagle]

Pilarz is the worst. He closed Angelo's and ruined FFP. He can never be forgiven

Angelos closed early my sophomore year which would've been 2010, pretty sure Wild was still president. Agree on FFP and the general unfriendly atmosphere to parties and socializing.

[swoopem]

Angelos closed early my sophomore year which would've been 2010, pretty sure Wild was still president. Agree on FFP and the general unfriendly atmosphere to parties and socializing.

I still blame Pilarz. He wanted to make MU a dry campus

[Goose]

As an FFP alum, I am still bitter. Bad move to discontinue you the program.

[The Hippie Satan of Hyperbole]

Y'all realize that they just rebranded FFP and moved it away from being a conditional admit program right?

https://www.marquette.edu/emerging-scholars-program/

Probably because conditional admits from back in the day are likely just getting straight admission today.

[Goose]

Sultan

Huh?

[The Hippie Satan of Hyperbole]

Sultan

Huh?

FFP was a summer "preview" for students that were conditionally admitted to Marquette right?  They have a similar program still, but for students already admitted. And that's likely because there aren't many (any?) conditional admits any longer. Most schools don't.

[wadesworld]

Eh, Olivari, McKnight, and Ousmane are all in either their 4th or 5th years.  I'm not 100% sure of the timeline of those guys coming and others getting hurt, but it is not just underclassmen.  That's the risk that you play when you rely as heavily on the portal as he has, a Souley Boum level player is not always there to get. I'd give him a pass this year because of the injuries, but it's clear that he's gotta focus more on the development of four year players rather than buying a new team every year, and that has never seemed like his strong suit.

Olivari was a pretty dang good portal add. Could make a case better than Boum.

[MUfan12]

I still blame Pilarz. He wanted to make MU a dry campus

If that happened it would have been because he drank it dry.

[Eye]

Is Miller a "great" coach?

Great from November to February.

[WhiteTrash]

Great from November to February.

I'm not a fan of Miller because he cheated at AZ. I don't think he is great but I'll go so far as to say he is very good.