IT IS MILLER TIME

[xaviermuskie2003]

I am probably one of the few Xavier fans who does have some reservations about hiring Miller. when i asked another D1 head coach about whether Xavier should go after Miller, his response was "i don't think you can hire Sean Miller right now." needless to say, he couldn't believe they did it.

either way, i don't know what's going to come down on him from the NCAA but apparently Xavier felt it wasn't a big enough deal to warrant NOT hiring him. i haven't followed everything that went down in the whole Arizona fiasco, but anyone who thinks Miller didn't know anything about what was happening is completely naive and if you're willing to overlook that, then fine. it concerns me a bit. i'm not equating this to the Browns Deshaun Watson trade, but it seems as though Xavier has "sold part of its soul" to make this happen. and i get it - it's a business. Xavier Basketball is what makes this university "run" and if it's not successful, everything else takes a hit.

I feel awful for Travis. he put his heart and soul into this program. heck, he's been a part of Xavier Basketball for almost 1/3 of his life. i'm sure there isn't anyone out there who wanted Xavier to win as badly as he did. maybe, like Byron said, he was just too nice a guy. i don't know. i do believe the players played hard for him, that they loved him (well MOST of them) and seeing from all the former players who have come out to support him, you can't deny the impact he had on the program. maybe he was better as asst/recruiter. either way, i hope he gets a shot somewhere to figure "it" out for himself.

there were two main things that came to light in the Steele era that really were the reasons for his departure: he never had a DUDE. Tu Holloway tweeted that in Steele's time Xavier had a bunch of #3-6 guys, a couple #2's (Naji, Scruggs, and maybe late in his career, Tyrique), but never a #1. you can't win in the BIg East without at least one DUDE. Xavier never got that guy. couple that with being ranked 250th or worse in 3 pt shooting in the nation all 4 years and that's hard to win in major D1 basketball in this day and age, the way the game is played.

also, don't let the hiring of MIller distract you from the fact that he lost to a Xavier team in the Sweet 16 that started Quentin Goodin, Tyrique Jones, and Malcolm Bernard.

for the most part, i will say that i'm pleased with this hire, but i do have reservations about it. Miller is no angel. hopefully he and the program don't get dinged too badly when the NCAA finishes its investigation.

LET'S GO X!

Great post. I am not a fan of the hire. I started a thread about it below.

My major issue is that Sean sat back and let friend/loyal assistant take the fall at Arizona (while calling him a liar). Book went to prison over it and his coaching career is over while Sean gets another shot. This speaks to Sean's character and leadership.

If anyone doesn't think Sean knew exactly what was going on with Ayton and Alkins recruiting, I dont know what to tell you. Ayton was only the #1 recruit in the country.

[XU85]

I am probably one of the few Xavier fans who does have some reservations about hiring Miller. when i asked another D1 head coach about whether Xavier should go after Miller, his response was "i don't think you can hire Sean Miller right now." needless to say, he couldn't believe they did it.

either way, i don't know what's going to come down on him from the NCAA but apparently Xavier felt it wasn't a big enough deal to warrant NOT hiring him. i haven't followed everything that went down in the whole Arizona fiasco, but anyone who thinks Miller didn't know anything about what was happening is completely naive and if you're willing to overlook that, then fine. it concerns me a bit. i'm not equating this to the Browns Deshaun Watson trade, but it seems as though Xavier has "sold part of its soul" to make this happen. and i get it - it's a business. Xavier Basketball is what makes this university "run" and if it's not successful, everything else takes a hit.

I feel awful for Travis. he put his heart and soul into this program. heck, he's been a part of Xavier Basketball for almost 1/3 of his life. i'm sure there isn't anyone out there who wanted Xavier to win as badly as he did. maybe, like Byron said, he was just too nice a guy. i don't know. i do believe the players played hard for him, that they loved him (well MOST of them) and seeing from all the former players who have come out to support him, you can't deny the impact he had on the program. maybe he was better as asst/recruiter. either way, i hope he gets a shot somewhere to figure "it" out for himself.

there were two main things that came to light in the Steele era that really were the reasons for his departure: he never had a DUDE. Tu Holloway tweeted that in Steele's time Xavier had a bunch of #3-6 guys, a couple #2's (Naji, Scruggs, and maybe late in his career, Tyrique), but never a #1. you can't win in the BIg East without at least one DUDE. Xavier never got that guy. couple that with being ranked 250th or worse in 3 pt shooting in the nation all 4 years and that's hard to win in major D1 basketball in this day and age, the way the game is played.

also, don't let the hiring of MIller distract you from the fact that he lost to a Xavier team in the Sweet 16 that started Quentin Goodin, Tyrique Jones, and Malcolm Bernard.

for the most part, i will say that i'm pleased with this hire, but i do have reservations about it. Miller is no angel. hopefully he and the program don't get dinged too badly when the NCAA finishes its investigation.

LET'S GO X!

Great post. I am not a fan of the hire. I started a thread about it below.

My major issue is that Sean sat back and let friend/loyal assistant take the fall at Arizona (while calling him a liar). Book went to prison over it and his coaching career is over while Sean gets another shot. This speaks to Sean's character and leadership.

If anyone doesn't think Sean knew exactly what was going on with Ayton and Alkins recruiting, I dont know what to tell you. Ayton was only the #1 recruit in the country.

Let's celebrate! Welcome back to our Prodigal Coach!

[muskieman]

Great post. I am not a fan of the hire. I started a thread about it below.

My major issue is that Sean sat back and let friend/loyal assistant take the fall at Arizona (while calling him a liar). Book went to prison over it and his coaching career is over while Sean gets another shot. This speaks to Sean's character and leadership.

If anyone doesn't think Sean knew exactly what was going on with Ayton and Alkins recruiting, I dont know what to tell you. Ayton was only the #1 recruit in the country.

I don't think Sean let Book take the fall. I think Book brought this upon himself. He was taking money from sources telling them that money was for this or that players. he took his cut or took it all. Jahvon Quinerly, a Zona recruit who wound up at Nova, Book got $15k from the feds however, corroborated by the Feds and NCAA, Book proved he kept all the money, never intended to give the money, didn't even give the money to a player's family. The FBI and NCAA cleared every player and prospect linked by Book/Dawkins to Arizona. Book's testimony in court says he never gave the money to anyone but himself.

Further, the Feds declined to prosecute Book for conspiracy to commit fraud, only pleading him out on Bribery. Either Book was not cognizant of the wrongdoing or he started out thinking he would help kids and families that needed help and then got greedy but that doesn't mean Sean knew everything Book did. There are guys out there that operate outside the system.

This stuff all started with a poorly written and poorly researched article by ESPN

QUESTION: IF Sean was involved why didn't the FBI and Federal prosecutors come out and prosecute Sean, he was a big fish they always try and go after? Maybe because they didn't have anything or maybe because Coach K and Bill Self were involved too. Book Richardson in cahoots with Christian Dawkins, solicited money from the undercover Feds not Miller. Dawkins admits he thought it was crazy for these guys (not knowing they were feds, would be giving him money.

Ayton and Alkins were questioned and investigated and cleared by the FBI and NCAA, Ayton by the NCAA a second time.

you might want to watch HBO’s The Scheme confirms, as previously reported and linked here, that Dawkins says the
ESPN reporter Mark Schlabach's report of a wiretapped phone call of Miller and Dawkins offering to pay Ayton $100k Feb.23, 2018 never happened!

[pdxmuskie]

I love the hire. Sean is by far the best coach X has had, at least since I was a student in the late 90s. I cannot accurately rate anyone prior to that time.

I have no knowledge of the issues that transpired at AZ. I will assume Sean is innocent but certainly acknowledge that may be naive.

Welcome back coach Miller.

[pdxmuskie]

My opinion is that any player or recruit opting to leave Xavier after the coaching change is not a player we want. Sean will demand defense and toughness. He will expect high level play at PG. His experience will have a huge impact on the PG position, which will have a huge impact on team efficiency.

[muskieman]

My opinion is that any player or recruit opting to leave Xavier after the coaching change is not a player we want. Sean will demand defense and toughness. He will expect high level play at PG. His experience will have a huge impact on the PG position, which will have a huge impact on team efficiency.

I watched a podcast the Miller brothers had with Ken Pom and in it Sean and Ken talked about how important good to great Offense is more important than Great D. They had some good insights into teams with top10 Ds, that they don't win championships without a good to great O but average D and great O wins championships. Sean mentioned how his outlook had changed after reading Pom's analysis of the O vs D outcome. It will be interesting if Sean makes the pac line the priority as opposed to varying.