MILLER TO INDIANA?

[jaxalum]

Forgive me, becuase I realize that this topic has already been spoken of ad nauseam, is in the middle of a fantastic seaason, still....With the way things are going at IU it looks as if Sampson will be gone sooner rather than later. I've read ATLEAST 4 articles about how SEAN MILLER would be the TOP/SHOE-IN candidate. Even DDow sees it as a no-brainer;

QUOTE DDOW
"Of course Miller's name is going to come up for this job. How could it not? If it's offered to him -- if -- EXPECT HIM TO TAKE IT. I don't have any inside information regarding that other than the fact that this is college basketball, and we're talking about the Indiana job.

At this point, of course, we're talking about a job that is still Kelvin Sampson's, though THOUGH I TO EXPECT HIM TO LOSE IT"

Honestly, who's a hotter coach in the country right now then Miller. This would really f#ck up everything if Miller moved on to IU.. The 2008 class would probably petition to get out of their LOIs(possibly follow him to IU), and all of the work thats gone into the 09 class would be all for not. Honestly, this has me REALLY rattled. We/X are SO close to achieving tangible national prominence/ a brand name if you will on a national scale. I'd be happy with another 4-6 years(atleast enough time for our 08 class to exhaust their eligibility. I realize Sean won't be here forever, but everything is so close to coming together, this would be absolutley devastating. Now I'm really hoping Sampson does not get fired. What are the chances of that not happening? Who would be candidates considered with Miller, and of those candidates who would be considered better qualified(Grant, Floyd, Wash St coach). I always thought there were very few jobs that Miller would leave X for....Pitt, IU, OSU, Georgetown....

There are people close to the program on this board( I'm interested in anyones opinion for that matter )whose opinion I think we would all like to hear on the Miller to IU possibility. This is coming 3-4 years to early. I have to admit, after such a gutsy win against CH, riding that high, this came as a punch in the gut.

[wkrq59]

By the terms of his contract which he himself had inserted again when Rogers gave him the extension and which he reinstated with his latest extension, Sean can't even talk to any school about another job. Period. So, how could the job be offered to him. I know rich alumni or "friends of the program" often call a coach and sit down over dinner to check his interest and availability.
Remember, please. The St. Paul Pioneer Press beat writer had Sean on his way to Minneapolis to take the Gophers job the morning that Tubby smith was announced as coach. Neither Sean nor Bobinski were ever contacted.
I don't give a damn about how "hot" a coach is, the man has been at the university seven years. His kids have gone to the same school and his wife likes it here. He is the son of a long-time high school coach who stayed 35 years at the same school and as successful as he was he must have had numerous offers.
Sean is not Thad Matta. Matta had assurances from the OSU people that the NCAA sanctions wouldn't be as bad as they were rumored to be. That can not be said for Indiana. The NCAA has said it will not be finished with its probing until almost June. It could be August or September or later before anything is finalized. IU is scared to death it will be sued the way OSU was by Jim O'Brien, who won his lawsuit against the Buckeyes.
Add to that the fact that IU's two best players are supposed to be headed for the NBA when the season ends. With the situation being what it is, IU will have one helluva time recruiting anybody but a few JUCOS. Remember, players who signed letters of intent can opt out of the coach is fired or pulls a Huggins and bails for alma mater.
Lastly, Sean Miller has made a commitment to the present freshmen and sophomores and to what could be the best recruiting class in Xavier history. He has made a commitment to their parents. He has been selling the educational opportunities at Xavier and in the process put a damn fine basketball team on the floor.
What the speculation does is create a distraction for the underclassmen on the team and give the reporter or reporters or news anchors or whomever a chance to say to their bosses, "Hey, I told you he'd leave. Nobody can turn that chance down. "
Sean Miller and Mike Bobinski are in the process of turning Xavier into a destination jPage 2 of 2 < 1 2 coaching job, not just a step up a ladder.

[xubrew]

you can come up with a thousand different reasons as to why you don't think miller should go, but it comes off sounding like you're trying to convince yourself that he won't go more than anything else. indiana is a great job regardless of what the circumstances are, and i don't think the penalties on the institution will be quite as bad as what was imposed on ohio state. anyone outside of xavier is going to see it as a good opportunity for miller. also, regardless of what his contract says, if iu asks xavier's permission to talk with miller, xavier will grant it. that's just the way we roll.

having said that, i can't imagine anyone other than scott drew being the top candidate for the iu job. he's an indiana guy (the state, not the school) that's done a bang-up job at baylor. whatever sanctions are levied on iu, it won't be 10% of what he walked into at baylor.

if miller leaves, and he might, the number one job of his replacements is to win over miller's recruits. any good athletic director (and we certainly have one) will make it known that his first job as coach is to re-recruit the players that have already committed. on top of that, any coach worth their weight in ***** will understand that already.

i wasn't upset with thad, and i won't be upset with miller. i refuse to let myself become upset about this. it's never as bad as fans make it out to be if the university knows what its doing, and xavier does. did we digress as a program when skip left?? did we digress as a program when thad left?? how many times do we have to successfully go through a coaching change before people stop getting so worked up about it?? what's even more encouraging is xavier's ability to recognize ability along with (if not moreso) than credentials. skip was just a head coach for one year before coming to xavier. gillen had never been a head coach. thad had just been a head coach for one year. miller had never been a head coach. whoever we get next will almost assuredly be more proven as a coach than anyone xavier has ever hired. those four coaches that i mentioned turned out to be great, but they had no credentials coming in. the chances of us getting another good coach are almost guaranteed.

i'm not worried.

[X Factor]

Another name I think will be high on IU's list, if Sampson is fired, is Bruce Pearl. He coached at Evansville and was a long-time assistant at Iowa. He is a Big Ten guy who would probably love to coach at IU.

[xubrew]

Another name I think will be high on IU's list, if Sampson is fired, is Bruce Pearl. He coached at Evansville and was a long-time assistant at Iowa. He is a Big Ten guy who would probably love to coach at IU.

i don't think so. iowa called him last year and it took him all of five minutes to tell them he wasn't interested. i think he REALLY REALLY REALLY likes it at tennessee. iu probably wants some one a little more...well..."indiana" than that. by that i mean i think they're looking for a certain type of individual, and the kind of guy that paints himself orange probably doesn't quite meet their prototype.

[ByronLisKing]

IF Miller leaves I wish him the best BUT can we wait until Sampson is canned and our season ends to discuss this? Finally IF he does go we have Chris Mack waiting in the wings to take over. 20 season or so with 4 head coaches and 1 losing season. We are a PROGRAM not a coach!

GO X BEAT RHODY!

[Nocalmuskie]

Xavier is a better program right now than Indiana. The Muskies beat them this year, are ranked higher and have a better recruiting class coming in. Think about it, would you rather live in a major media market like Cincinnati, or in the middle of Indiana...

[xubrew]

Xavier is a better program right now than Indiana. The Muskies beat them this year, are ranked higher and have a better recruiting class coming in. Think about it, would you rather live in a major media market like Cincinnati, or in the middle of Indiana...

i don't think the media market argument is going to hold much water. indiana gets tons more local and national media than xavier. indiana isn't in indianapolis, but they get more media in a city that they're not even located in than xavier gets in cincinnati.

[Pizza Delivery]

XUBREW,

I appreciate your confidence, but I wouldn't be so blase (sp?) about losing another top flight coach. It simply isn't good for a program to lack stability every 3-4 years. It would feed a negative reputation in a recruiting sense, however good the replacement coach is.

When Skip left he had put in 2 terms if you will. 2 full recruiting classes. I'd like to see Sean do the same thing and fulfill his ideal of being the "Mark Few of Xavier". He wants, I think, to really leave an indelible mark on our proud tradition, and unless he makes the elite 8 or final 4 this year, I think he rides this beautiful crop of recruits out for another year or two - at least.

That said, the Indiana job is like ncaa royalty - if there is such a thing anymore, which is a question to ponder. I think Sean is acutely aware of the leveled playing field in the ncaa, and the fallacy of the "major" program being king. In short, he actually likes it here.

[bbaker06]

Do we really need to debate whether Miller would be interested in every single coaching vacancy or even what we think will be a vacancy in the middle of the season? Can't we save this for after the year is over? I just don't see the point in talking about every single opening or potential opening and then trying to predict who goes where in the middle of the season.