[4 Quarters]

Miller is leaving Xavier after a three year return stint to take the Texas job.

Has Miller made bad career move, I think so.

[plantmanky]

Miller is leaving Xavier after a three year return stint to take the Texas job.

Has Miller made bad career move, I think so.

No Xavier has almost zero NIL money, Texas has an open bank.


Xavier was always a get back on my feet job.

[4 Quarters]

Miller is leaving Xavier after a three year return stint to take the Texas job.

Has Miller made bad career move, I think so.

No Xavier has almost zero NIL money, Texas has an open bank.


Xavier was always a get back on my feet job.

Oh, I agree X was a job when nobody else would hire him.  It's well known that Texas is suppose to have a truck load of NIL money, but it sure hasn't  played into their favor.
Change of conference didn't seem to make much difference in the performance.  How many coaches have they had in the last ten years?  Every coach that left has enjoyed success.
If Miller doesn't at least get them into the final four pretty quick, he'll be job hunting.

Again I ask, did he make a good or bad decision?

[plantmanky]

Miller is leaving Xavier after a three year return stint to take the Texas job.

Has Miller made bad career move, I think so.

No Xavier has almost zero NIL money, Texas has an open bank.


Xavier was always a get back on my feet job.

Oh, I agree X was a job when nobody else would hire him.  It's well known that Texas is suppose to have a truck load of NIL money, but it sure hasn't  played into their favor.
Change of conference didn't seem to make much difference in the performance.  How many coaches have they had in the last ten years?  Every coach that left has enjoyed success.
If Miller doesn't at least get them into the final four pretty quick, he'll be job hunting.

Again I ask, did he make a good or bad decision?

Texas basketball will never make a final four.  As for Miller, his bank account says this is a fantastic move.

[-STAT-]

Despite the issues he had at Arizona involving the recruitment of Deandre Ayton, he had some great teams there but always had that rep for not being able to win the big one. Made it to the Elite 8 several times but never to the Final 4. As plantman said, second stint at Xavier was just a bridge job to something bigger, and Texas is always known for going after the big names, and Miller is still one of the biggest in the profession. With an unlimited tap for NIL money, this was a good hire to reel in some top talent recruit wise and in the portal.

[Cactus Jack]

Good move for his bank account and even if he's fired at Texas, short of there being some type of terrible scandal, another school similar to Xavier will hire him, so it's a win for Miller.

I THINK I see what Texas is thinking, but knowing what I know, I don't see what Texas is thinking. Miller has no ties to the area, no ties to the SEC, and nothing that tells me he's going to be anything other than another Rick Barnes.

Texas has the funds to pay anyone if they really wanted, but it seems that they're going to be content with making the tournament most years and getting to a Sweet Sixteen or slightly beyond every few years.

Miller checks that box, it just seems that Texas has more potential than that (they just opened a new arena) and going the ex-pro or young up and comer would have been a better play than a re-tread.

Miller's best recruits were from Southern California, Las Vegas, and Phoenix area (prep) schools and the rest of his history is in the Rust Belt. Texas isn't littered with prep schools and I don't see tons of the rest of the kids I just mentioned going halfway across the country and passing over schools with more tradition to play at a football school.

Texas is a huge place to recruit, but right now, the best players in the Houston area are probably U of H's to lose. Not saying he can't get them, just that it's a safe assumption that any Houston kid who wants to stay in-state is a Cougars lean until you hear otherwise.

Maybe it works if he has a really strong staff and someone who has ties to the area is willing to do a lot of the heavy-lifting that he gets the credit for, but if this were the case, you'd think the school could have just hired them to begin with.

We're going to see how well Miller does in the portal very quickly, because he's losing a ton and is going to have to dive in right away.

[Cactus Jack]

Wanted to pose a question that may get some interesting answers. All things considered, which is a better job: 2007 Arizona or 2025 Texas?

I'm inclined to say 2007 Arizona because of the tradition and never being second to football; but he had to be the guy to replace the legend (which you never want to be), he couldn't pay players, and it was in the midst of three Final Fours for UCLA.

2025 Texas has the obvious benefit of being able to pay players from a strong NIL war chest, but the other Texas programs (Houston, A&M, and Texas Tech) have probably never been collectively stronger. Also think that regardless of how messed up it may seem, any Texas coach is going to be compared to Chris Beard and the 'what-ifs'.

[4 Quarters]

Wanted to pose a question that may get some interesting answers. All things considered, which is a better job: 2007 Arizona or 2025 Texas?

I'm inclined to say 2007 Arizona because of the tradition and never being second to football; but he had to be the guy to replace the legend (which you never want to be), he couldn't pay players, and it was in the midst of three Final Fours for UCLA.

2025 Texas has the obvious benefit of being able to pay players from a strong NIL war chest, but the other Texas programs (Houston, A&M, and Texas Tech) have probably never been collectively stronger. Also think that regardless of how messed up it may seem, any Texas coach is going to be compared to Chris Beard and the 'what-ifs'.

I'm thinking Arizona was the better job and might still be.  How much of the Texas NIL money actually goes to the basketball program?

[Cactus Jack]

I'm thinking Arizona was the better job and might still be.  How much of the Texas NIL money actually goes to the basketball program?

Haven't been able to find a firm figure, but Texas Basketball's estimated NIL this season was around $4 million, with message boards and bloggers saying that it's expected to be in the range of $5 million next season.

Coming up with the money for the right players will never be an issue-- the issue will be getting the players that boosters will pony up for without blinking interested enough in Texas to get to that point.

The problem with Texas athletics (as told by a former player) is that you have a lot of cooks in the kitchen. It's a big state that gets tons of donations, but all of the big donors have their guy that they want to see play. That leads to factions where a guy from Houston wants to see his guy play but he plays the same position as a guy from Dallas that was backed by a different big booster (who wants to see his own guy play). Multiply that by donors in the West Texas, Austin/San Antonio/Waco, and far East Texas and you can see why just managing the boosters and their expectations is a job in and of itself. It's a better position to be in than plenty of other places, but unless you have a really strong, entrenched head coach, some might think it's better to be an LSU where you have one big city, a few smaller towns, and a lock on in-state recruiting as a whole.

I suspect that Texas could have been in on the bidding with an AJ Dybantsa if they really wanted, and maybe that's how Miller plays it, but he won't have the funds to fill out a team of Dybantsa's (and I don't think anyone else could either). At some point, he'll have to turn inward to get role players and the NIL funding that keeps them from one of the other Texas schools or a neighboring state, and that's probably where his problems are going to start.


Something else I should have added in my earlier post: Texas is one of the few (and definitely one of the largest) states where NIL is prohibited at the high school level. That means no signing a kid and moving him to a nearby Texas high school for his senior year, at least if he wants above-board NIL benefits. They'll probably remove this cap at some point, but it may be a bit. This doesn't hurt Texas high school football nearly as bad as basketball. A few thousand dollars and a Lloyd's of London policy may be enough to make someone turn down a prep school in another state and keeping the high school experience that you can't get back, but I'd imagine that some schools can offer six figures or more. For a player like Justin Edwards or one of the Harrisons (read: a highly rated recruit who hasn't played a ton in the NBA), that could be a considerable portion of their career earnings from basketball, especially if it's invested wisely.

If the NIL cap were off Texas high schools, Miller would be in a much better situation, IMO.

[-STAT-]

Wanted to pose a question that may get some interesting answers. All things considered, which is a better job: 2007 Arizona or 2025 Texas?

I'm inclined to say 2007 Arizona because of the tradition and never being second to football; but he had to be the guy to replace the legend (which you never want to be), he couldn't pay players, and it was in the midst of three Final Fours for UCLA.

2025 Texas has the obvious benefit of being able to pay players from a strong NIL war chest, but the other Texas programs (Houston, A&M, and Texas Tech) have probably never been collectively stronger. Also think that regardless of how messed up it may seem, any Texas coach is going to be compared to Chris Beard and the 'what-ifs'.

Yeah I'd still have to say that Arizona was a much better job, did have a lot of shoes to fill in replacing Lute Olson, for the most part Miller did a good job even tho his teams never got past the Elite 8, had some great talent, I honestly think if it wasn't for the FBI scandal back in 2017-18, Miller would've either left voluntarily or Arizona would have gotten rid of him based on results and 0 Final 4 appearances.

[-STAT-]

Some other notable hires around College Basketball.

Iowa hired Ben McCollum, who took Drake to the round of 32 in his lone season, his teams are known for playing at extremely slow pace & tempo, which in today's game where it's all about run & gun, fast pace & tempo, this could be a deterrent for Iowa, but the guy is a proven winner, and won 31 games in his first season as a D1 coach, so I think he will do good at Iowa.

Minnesota hired Niko Medved from Colorado St, who was on the verge of upsetting Maryland to move onto the Sweet 16. Medved, ironically enough like McCollum, spent 1 season at Drake before moving onto Colorado St. where he has been the last 7 seasons. He is a Minnesota native, and alum so this should be a great hire for the Golden-Gophers.

Also seen a report where Xavier is showing interest in Chris Mack, who took the job the first time Sean Miller left also. Xavier is a great program, but turning into a bridge job for bigger things for these coaches.

[4 Quarters]

Some other notable hires around College Basketball.

Iowa hired Ben McCollum, who took Drake to the round of 32 in his lone season, his teams are known for playing at extremely slow pace & tempo, which in today's game where it's all about run & gun, fast pace & tempo, this could be a deterrent for Iowa, but the guy is a proven winner, and won 31 games in his first season as a D1 coach, so I think he will do good at Iowa.

Minnesota hired Niko Medved from Colorado St, who was on the verge of upsetting Maryland to move onto the Sweet 16. Medved, ironically enough like McCollum, spent 1 season at Drake before moving onto Colorado St. where he has been the last 7 seasons. He is a Minnesota native, and alum so this should be a great hire for the Golden-Gophers.

Also seen a report where Xavier is showing interest in Chris Mack, who took the job the first time Sean Miller left also. Xavier is a great program, but turning into a bridge job for bigger things for these coaches.

Xavier has always been a bridge job for coaches.

[Cactus Jack]

Some other notable hires around College Basketball.

Iowa hired Ben McCollum, who took Drake to the round of 32 in his lone season, his teams are known for playing at extremely slow pace & tempo, which in today's game where it's all about run & gun, fast pace & tempo, this could be a deterrent for Iowa, but the guy is a proven winner, and won 31 games in his first season as a D1 coach, so I think he will do good at Iowa.

Minnesota hired Niko Medved from Colorado St, who was on the verge of upsetting Maryland to move onto the Sweet 16. Medved, ironically enough like McCollum, spent 1 season at Drake before moving onto Colorado St. where he has been the last 7 seasons. He is a Minnesota native, and alum so this should be a great hire for the Golden-Gophers.

Also seen a report where Xavier is showing interest in Chris Mack, who took the job the first time Sean Miller left also. Xavier is a great program, but turning into a bridge job for bigger things for these coaches.

Drake's AD, or whoever was responsible for those hires, should be on other school's radars.

[4 Quarters]

Some other notable hires around College Basketball.

Iowa hired Ben McCollum, who took Drake to the round of 32 in his lone season, his teams are known for playing at extremely slow pace & tempo, which in today's game where it's all about run & gun, fast pace & tempo, this could be a deterrent for Iowa, but the guy is a proven winner, and won 31 games in his first season as a D1 coach, so I think he will do good at Iowa.

Minnesota hired Niko Medved from Colorado St, who was on the verge of upsetting Maryland to move onto the Sweet 16. Medved, ironically enough like McCollum, spent 1 season at Drake before moving onto Colorado St. where he has been the last 7 seasons. He is a Minnesota native, and alum so this should be a great hire for the Golden-Gophers.

Also seen a report where Xavier is showing interest in Chris Mack, who took the job the first time Sean Miller left also. Xavier is a great program, but turning into a bridge job for bigger things for these coaches.

Drake's AD, or whoever was responsible for those hires, should be on other school's radars.

When you're a mid major, sometimes you don't have the resources to hire a big time coach, you have to gamble on an up and coming coach.  Sometimes you get lucky and sometimes you're left with egg on your face.  This happened with Xavier and Travis Steele.