SAN JOSE, Calif.—It’s been five years since Arizona and Sean Miller parted ways, and in that time Miller has coached at two other schools. The first season of his current stop, at Texas, has resulted in an unexpected run from the First Four to the Sweet 16.
And if a few things happen on Thursday night, he could be facing his old employer for a spot in the Final Four.
No. 11 Texas will face No. 2 Purdue in the first West Region semifinal game at the SAP Center, with the winner taking on either top-seeded Arizona or No. 4 Arkansas. A ticket gets you into both games, which means a lot of UA fans may have to make a choice between cheering their former coach or booing him.
“I would hope they would cheer for us,” Miller said Wednesday. “We’re the 11 seed. If I were them, I’d want us to win.”
Miller went 302-109 with Arizona from 2009-21, winning five Pac-10/12 regular season titles and three conference tourney crowns. He got the Wildcats to the Elite Eight three times.
But he also was in charge of the program when it came under NCAA investigation following an FBI sting operation that led to assistant coach Book Richardson do prison time for bribery. Arizona self-imposed a postseason ban in 2020-21, Miller’s final season.
Much of the things he and the program were accused of doing are no longer against the rules, and the college basketball landscape in general is so different from then.
“It’s certainly changed a lot,” he said. “There’s a lot of different rules, clearly, that have affected the game, but I think what it’s affected the most is just how you go about building the team that you’re going to have.”
While the back end of Miller’s tenure at Arizona didn’t match the first half—his last six season produced just two NCAA tourney wins and three losses to double-digit seeds—he still looks upon that time fondly.
“My relationship with Arizona is nothing but great,” he said. “I have three sons, they all attended the University of Arizona, and each of them had an amazing experience. Have friendships that will last a lifetime. I was treated, our family was treated incredibly well.
“That’s where that stands. I mean, if we were to beat Purdue—I’m at Texas. That would be amazing. We’re playing in the Elite Eight. But the other part of it doesn’t really exist for me. I think with that emotion, you can either burn the house down or make it warmer. I look at that place and that experience as nothing but just making my house warmer. I have nothing but positive thoughts, feelings and perspectives towards that experience.”
Miller also praised his successor, calling Tommy Lloyd’s time in Tucson as “legendary.”
“My perspective of just watching Arizona, they couldn’t have hired a better coach,” Miller said. “I know that the team that they have this year might be the best team at Arizona, one of the best ever.”
Miller was Arizona’s coach the last time it played in San Jose, in the 2017 NCAA West Regional. The second-seeded Wildcats were upset by No. 11 Xavier.
“It didn’t work out for us,” Miller said.
The UA led by eight with 3:44 left but only made one field goal the rest of the way while Xavier ended the game on a 9-0 run. Lauri Markkanen, who would go on to be a lottery pick that June, had only nine points and did not attempt a shot the final 11-plus minutes.
Miller has since been back to the Sweet 16, getting there with Xavier in 2023, and this is the ninth time he’s reached the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament.
“I think there is value in being in this round before,” he said. “You’re more settled in, more experienced.”
