OTF Premium Three thoughts on Sean Miller taking over the Texas men's basketball program

[Jeff Howe]

What On Texas Football has been steadfast in reporting came to fruition on Sunday. Texas athletic director Chris Del Conte officially moved on from Rodney Terry and hired Xavier’s Sean Miller to replace him as the school’s 27th men’s basketball coach.

The Longhorns are turning the page to a new era inside Moody Center, and I’ve got three thoughts on the 56-year-old Miller taking over on the Forty Acres.

1. We’ve discussed this on our YouTube channel and the OTF Forum, but I love Miller’s potential to get more juice out of international recruiting than Texas has before.

Scott Drew made me believe in international recruiting during his early years at Baylor. Due to scholarship restrictions and the stigma attached to the program, Drew and his staff went far and wide to fill out the roster; guard Aaron Bruce (Australia) and center Mamadou Diene (Senegal) were a part of Drew’s first recruiting class, helping the Bears go from the Big 12 basement to the NCAA Tournament in four years.

Kenny Cherry (Canada), Brady Heslip (Canada), Manu Lecomte (Belgium), Jo Lual-Acuil (Sudan), Yves Missi (Belgium), Jeremy Sochan (England), Flo Thamba (Democratic Republic of Congo) and Jonathan Tchamwa Tchatchoua (Cameroon) are among the international players who’ve made their way to Waco in Drew’s tenure. International recruiting has been a critical part of talent acquisition for a program four years removed from winning a national championship; it should be good enough for one striving to get back to the Final Four for the first time since 2003.

Deandre Ayton (Bahamas), Josh Green (Australia), Christian Koloko (Cameroon) and Lauri Markkanen (Finland) are among the international NBA draft picks Miller recruited during his 12 seasons at Arizona. Texas needs all the firepower it can muster to compete in the SEC and Miller shouldn’t leave any stones unturned in his quest to build a competitive roster, especially in areas where he’s found success.

2. When it comes to competing in the SEC, offense is the name of the game.

Led by Alabama, which leads Division I with 91.1 points per game, the SEC boasts five of the top 11 scoring teams in the country. The word I’ve received in recent years from folks tied into the NBA scouting community is that the league holds the SEC in high regard as the conference best preparing players for the next level because the SEC has dynamic offensive coaches and big-time scorers; Tre Johnson will join Dalton Knecht (2024), Brandon Miller (2023) and Cameron Thomas (2021) as recent SEC scoring leaders to be selected in the first round of the draft.

Miller is regarded as a top offensive coach, and there are plenty of numbers to back up the claim.

Miller’s 2022-23 squad at Xavier, which lost to Texas in the Sweet 16, finished 10th nationally in points per game (80.9). The Musketeers also ranked eighth in adjusted offensive efficiency and No. 33 in adjusted tempo, according to KenPom.com.

When Miller’s Arizona teams participated in March Madness, the offense was the catalyst. The Wildcats finished 12th, 13th, 20th, seventh, 20th, 15th, and 15th in adjusted offensive efficiency during their seven NCAA Tournament trips under Miller.

Miller coached two of the 28 teams in Arizona history to average 80 or more points per game (80.5 in 2017-18 and 80.4 in 2015-16). The Wildcats ranked in the top 60 nationally in points per game during seven of Miller’s 12 seasons in Tucson, three of which saw Arizona finish as a top-25 team in scoring.

3. Strong guard play has been a hallmark of Miller’s teams, which bodes well for Texas if he can put together top-notch backcourts.

Since T.J. Ford led the Longhorns to the Final Four 22 years ago, three Texas teams have advanced to the Elite Eight. Whether it was Daniel Gibson (2005-06), D.J. Augustin (2007-08) or the three-headed monster of Marcus Carr, Tyrese Hunter and Sir’Jabari Rice (2022-23), the best Longhorn squads since the high point of the Rick Barnes era have featured elite guards.

The 2010-11 team won 28 games with a future first-round pick and NBA champion (Cory Joseph) leading a deep backcourt. Isaiah Taylor (2013-14) led Texas to the program’s last NCAA Tournament win under Barnes before bowing out to Michigan in the round of 32.

With the transfer portal opening Monday, Miller’s first order of business is to figure out what he's got with Jordan Pope and Chendall Weaver while looking for reinforcements to account for the impending departures of Johnson and Tramon Mark.

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[bierce]

Miller already has first hand knowledge of what Pope and Weaver can do, so his first order of business with them is to tell them how he intends to use them or if they should look for other landing spots.  He had some good things to say about Weaver during the game.  He's had some guard combos in the past that weren't real big and in which neither was the primary distributor or shooter, so Pope could have a place, but I don't see him thinking a Pope/Weaver duo can get it done at this level when neither is a plus ball-handler and neither is a dead-eye from the arc. 

Edited Sunday at 10:20 PM by bierce

[Jarveaux]

I believe one of his strongest points is international recruiting. 

[SuperDave0805]

One of Barnes's biggest strengths early on was his Canada connections 

[Jordan91]

He needs an SEC ready point guard. 

[BabyBevo]

2 minutes ago, Jordan91 said:

He needs an SEC ready point guard. 

Yep. Pope’s not going to cut it

[SuperDave0805]

Texas baseball takes 2 out of 3 from LSU this weekend 

[Jordan91]

Thanks Jeff. 

[pinkman_90]

Thanks but no thanks on Pope

[Red Five]

Pope was pretty good at OSU. I wouldn't be opposed to seeing what he looks like in a real offense. 

[ThatHornsGuy87]

Is there ANY way Austin Lamborghini and Miller can talk Tre Johnson into one more year on the 40? Lol

[Jordan91]

29 minutes ago, Red Five said:

Pope was pretty good at OSU. I wouldn't be opposed to seeing what he looks like in a real offense. 

He would be a six foot one inch off guard. All year he couldn’t get around SEC point guards. That’s why Larry replaced him as a starter for a while. 

[TexasFanatic]

Weaver and Pope are solid guards off the bench. 
 

Texas needs to lead guards that can actually run an offense. 
 

I wouldn’t mind getting Mark back (saw Gerry mentioned he can come back)

PG: Portal 

SG: (Portal) Cronwell?

SF: Mark 

PF: Portal 

😄 Portal (get me some big ass Serbian idgaf)

 

Bench: 

G: Weaver 

G: Pope

F: Pryor 

F: Codie

😄 Vinson

[TexasFanatic]

Lolol “C” turned Into an emoji lol 

[bierce]

 If Traore from Xavier follows Miller AND proves healthy enough to play, then he will be an option at the 5, and he might be a starter.  I have some reservations about his ability to do much on offense at this level of competition, and he isn't a shot blocker, but he is a force on the glass. 

That said, I hope we find a better option. 

[bierce]

13 minutes ago, TexasFanatic said:

Weaver and Pope are solid guards off the bench. 
 

Texas needs to lead guards that can actually run an offense. 
 

I wouldn’t mind getting Mark back (saw Gerry mentioned he can come back)

PG: Portal 

SG: (Portal) Cronwell?

SF: Mark 

PF: Portal 

😄 Portal (get me some big ass Serbian idgaf)

 

Bench: 

G: Weaver 

G: Pope

F: Pryor 

F: Codie

😄 Vinson

I don't think either Weaver or Pope will settle for bench minutes next year.  Weaver will want starting minutes in his final year, and Pope isn't about to take a step back. 

[TexasFanatic]

1 minute ago, bierce said:

I don't think either Weaver or Pope will settle for bench minutes next year.  Weaver will want starting minutes in his final year, and Pope isn't about to take a step back. 

I’d rather have weaver than Pope if we had to choose

[bierce]

3 minutes ago, TexasFanatic said:

I’d rather have weaver than Pope if we had to choose

You and me both.  I've been a huge Weaver fan since watching his play at UT-Arlington after learning we were adding him. 

I do think we believe his defense is better than it is and his offense is worse that it is.  When he hits ft, he's a very efficient player on offense.  He just didn't hit ft this year.  Too many times on defense, he is behind on the first step.  The rate at which he closes is pretty remarkable, but sometimes you just can't catch  up after the first step.  And like Junior Seau for the Chargers, he runs all over the field doing berserker stuff.   Looks impressive, but can lead to breakdowns in the team D.

But there is no guard in the country I would more want on defense after an opponent has put a shot up.  Hellacious rebounder. 

[Robert Brooks]

1 hour ago, TexasFanatic said:

Weaver and Pope are solid guards off the bench. 
 

Texas needs to lead guards that can actually run an offense. 
 

I wouldn’t mind getting Mark back (saw Gerry mentioned he can come back)

PG: Portal 

SG: (Portal) Cronwell?

SF: Mark 

PF: Portal 

😄 Portal (get me some big ass Serbian idgaf)

 

Bench: 

G: Weaver 

G: Pope

F: Pryor 

F: Codie

😄 Vinson

Pope isn’t going to stay to come off the bench 

[Robert Brooks]

2 hours ago, BabyBevo said:

Yep. Pope’s not going to cut it

Oregon state level Jordan Pope with now better coaching will.

[bierce]

4 minutes ago, Robert Brooks said:

Oregon state level Jordan Pope with now better coaching will.

Dumb.  Pope was more efficient on offense for Texas than he was for Oregon State.  He just had the ball a lot more for Oregon State, because Oregon State was lousy.

[BobInHouston]

3 hours ago, bierce said:

Miller already has first hand knowledge of what Pope and Weaver can do, so his first order of business with them is to tell them how he intends to use them or if they should look for other landing spots.  He had some good things to say about Weaver during the game.  He's had some guard combos in the past that weren't real big and in which neither was the primary distributor or shooter, so Pope could have a place, but I don't see him thinking a Pope/Weaver duo can get it done at this level when neither is a plus ball-handler and neither is a dead-eye from the arc. 

But they could start a brawl.

No, wait, that was a Chris Mack joint.

Edited Monday at 02:00 AM by BobInHouston

[bierce]

1 hour ago, BobInHouston said:

But they could start a brawl.

No, wait, that was a Chris Mack joint.

At first I thought that was going to be a joke about boxers. 

[BayAreaLonghorn]

3 hours ago, BobInHouston said:

But they could start a brawl.

No, wait, that was a Chris Mack joint.

That Mack & Cronin presser after the game was classic lol.

[thatdude2]

Texas about to run the SEC.