Sean Miller officially named Texas Longhorns head coach

[Gerry Hamilton]

Sean Miller named Texas Basketball head coach

Former Xavier and Arizona leader who has eight Sweet 16 appearances in 20 years as a head coach becomes the 27th Men’s Basketball coach in Texas program history.

AUSTIN, Texas — A proven and consistent winner with eight Sweet Sixteen and four Elite Eight appearances in 20 years as a head coach at Xavier University and the University of Arizona, Sean Miller has been named the 27th head basketball coach at The University of Texas, Vice President and Lois and Richard Folger Athletics Director Chris Del Conte announced Monday. Miller will be introduced at a Tuesday press conference on the UT campus.

Miller has posted a 487-196 (.713) on-court record in 20 seasons as a collegiate head coach and claimed eight regular-season conference titles and four conference tournament championships. He has guided teams to 13 NCAA Tournament appearances, including the four trips to the Elite Eight and eight to the Sweet 16. Miller, who has led his team to at least 25 wins in a season 11 times and five 30-win seasons, has compiled a 22-13 (.629) on-court record in NCAA Tournament contests, including a 13-7 mark at Arizona and 9-6 at Xavier.

“Coach Miller is a guy who consistently builds winning programs, he develops great players and is an absolutely brilliant coach and basketball tactician,” said Kevin Eltife, Chairman of the UT System Board of Regents. “He’s without a doubt the perfect choice to lead our men’s basketball program. When you watched his teams at Arizona and Xavier, they were extremely well-coached, won at the highest level, made deep runs in the NCAA tournament, and played a fun and exciting brand of basketball. I couldn’t be more thrilled to watch him bring all of that to our program here on the Forty Acres.”

Miller spent the last three seasons (2022-25) in his second stint as the head coach at Xavier University. He previously served as head coach at Xavier for five years (2004-09). During his eight total seasons with the Musketeers, Miller compiled an overall record of 185-87 (.680). He led Xavier to six NCAA Tournament appearances, including three trips to the Sweet 16 (2008, 2009 and 2023) and one to the Elite Eight (2008).

Miller served for 12 seasons (2009-21) as head coach at Arizona and registered an overall on-court mark of 302-109 (.735). He guided the Wildcats to seven NCAA Tournament appearances, including five trips to the Sweet 16 (2011, 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2017) and three to the Elite Eight (2011, 2014 and 2015).

“Sean Miller is a proven winner who will bring excellence to our men’s basketball program,” said James E. Davis, Interim President of The University of Texas at Austin. “Coach Miller has the experience, the leadership, and the expertise to build a championship-level program with players of the highest caliber on and off the court. I want to thank and congratulate Chris Del Conte for landing the right coach to lead our program and start an exciting new chapter in the storied history of Longhorn men’s basketball.”

Since Miller became head coach at Xavier in 2004-05, his 465 total on-court wins entering the 2024-25 season ranked as the 10th-most by any Division I head coach and sixth-most among active head coaches. His .716 winning percentage also ranked as the 10th-highest percentage among active head coaches with a minimum of five years as a division I head coach entering the 2024-25 season.

In addition, his 13 career NCAA Tournament appearances since 2004-05 are tied for 13th among all head coaches (tied for 10th among active coaches). Miller’s 22 career NCAA Tournament wins are tied for 12th (seventh among active coaches), his eight Sweet 16 trips are tied for seventh (fifth among active coaches) and his four Elite Eight appearances are tied for 10th (sixth among active coaches).

“I’m so excited about the future of our men’s basketball program and thrilled to add another phenomenal coach to our Longhorn Family,” said Del Conte. “When we were considering our next head coach, Sean Miller was a name that immediately came up as a perfect fit for us. He certainly checks all the boxes, is exactly what we’re looking for in every facet as a leader, and in talking with him, he has a great plan and vision for our program. Like all our decisions in athletics, and everything we do, we couldn’t have made this happen without the incredible leadership of our chairman of the board of regents and our president. Chairman Eltife and President Davis are such key parts in every decision we make, they’re people I lean on heavily, and I am beyond grateful for their counsel, support and friendship. Together, they help us make awesome days like today happen for Longhorn Nation, and I can’t thank them enough.”

“Coach Miller has long been known as an exceptional program builder and tremendous developer of players with a highly-respected basketball coaching mind,” Del Conte added. “He’s someone I’ve known for a long time and have enjoyed following throughout his career, and I’ve been impressed with the outstanding teams he produces year in and year out. Anyone who is familiar with college basketball history knows he played at a very high level himself back in his day. He has taken that passion for the game and turned it into an accomplished coaching career, cares deeply about the players he coaches and consistently brings the best out of all of them. Coach Miller’s energy is infectious, he is driven to succeed, and he is a truly special person, too. I’m confident our players and coaches will thrive under his leadership, and he will build a successful program that we will all be extremely proud of. Longhorn Nation is going to absolutely love him. The future is bright, and I can’t wait to get him here with our elite group of head coaches.

Miller ranks second only to current Arkansas coach John Calipari in the number of NBA players produced over the last 20 seasons. Miller has developed 27 players whom he signed and/or coached that have seen action in the NBA. Of those 27 individuals, 12 were selected in the first round of the NBA Draft, including six lottery picks. Among the lottery picks are Deandre Ayton (No. 1 overall pick in 2018), Derrick Williams (No. 2 overall pick in 2011) and Aaron Gordon (No. 4 overall pick in 2014).

Miller currently has 10 active players in the NBA including: Colby Jones (Washington Wizards), Aaron Gordon (Denver Nuggets), Bennedict Mathurin (Indiana Pacers), Christian Koloko (Los Angeles Lakers), Dalen Terry (Chicago Bulls), Deandre Jordan (Portland Trailblazers), Josh Green (Charlotte Hornets), Lauri Markkanen (Utah Jazz), T.J. McConnell (Indiana Pacers) and Zeke Nnaji (Denver Nuggets). Both Gordon and Nnaji helped the Nuggets win the 2023 NBA Championship.

Miller has had 11 different players named as finalists for one of the five Basketball Hall of Fame’s prestigious positional awards. Arizona’s Stanley Johnson won the inaugural Julius Erving Small Forward of the Year Award in 2015, while Deandre Ayton of Arizona claimed the 2018 Karl Malone Power Forward of the Year Award. Miller has had three players recognized as finalists for the John R. Wooden Award and two players named as finalists for the Naismith Trophy. In addition, he coached four players who garnered Pac-12 Conference Player of the Year honors and five players who were named Pac-12 Conference Freshman of the Year.

Since becoming a collegiate head coach in 2004, every player Miller coached that has exhausted his eligibility has gone on to graduate. Entering the 2024-25 season, that number has grown to 56 graduates, including a streak of 24 straight graduates from Xavier and 32 graduates from Arizona. In 2023, Jack Nunge became the first Xavier player to earn BIG EAST Men’s Basketball Student-Athlete of the Year honors. Arizona’s Stone Gettings was named the 2020 Pac-12 Conference Scholar-Athlete of the Year, and Xavier’s Brian Thornton was named the Atlantic 10 Conference Student-Athlete of the Year and earned CoSIDA Academic All-America accolades in 2005.

In addition to his success at the collegiate level, Miller has been active with USA Basketball dating back to his playing days. His first gold medal with USA Basketball came as a player in 1991, when he helped lead Team USA to the championship at the World University Games in Sheffield, England. Miller was elevated from assistant coach to head coach of the U.S. Men’s U19 National team in 2015 and guided Team USA to the gold medal at the FIBA U19 World Championship in Crete, Greece. He was named the 2015 USA Basketball National Co-Coach of the Year. 

Miller led Xavier to a 22-12 overall record (13-7 BIG EAST) and advanced to the NCAA Tournament First Round during the 2024-25 season. Entering postseason play, the Musketeers led the BIG EAST and ranked ninth nationally in fastbreak points (15.2 ppg) and were second in the conference and sixth nationally in free throw percentage (.794). Xavier also ranked second in the BIG EAST and seventh nationally in three-point percentage (.388) and third in the league and 15th nationally in assists per game (16.9 apg). Zach Freemantle earned All-BIG EAST Second Team mention, Ryan Conwell was tabbed All-BIG EAST Third Team and Jerome Hunter was selected as the 2024-25 BIG EAST Sportsmanship Award winner.

During Miller’s first season back at Xavier in 2022-23, he guided the Musketeers to one of the top-five winningest seasons in program history at 27-10 overall, tied the school record for most BIG EAST wins in a season (15-5) and advanced to the NCAA Sweet 16. Xavier led the nation in assists per game (19.1 apg) and ranked in the top 10 nationally in scoring offense (10th at 80.9 ppg), field goals percentage (seventh at .492) and three-point percentage (fifth at .390). Souley Boum earned All-BIG EAST First Team honors and was named an Associated Press honorable mention All-American.

In 12 seasons (2009-21) as the head coach at Arizona, Miller guided the Wildcats to five regular-season championships, three conference tournament titles and a Pac-12 winning percentage (.688, 150-68) that trails only John Wooden and Lute Olson. Miller paced the 2017-18 Wildcats to a 27-8 mark and swept the Pac-12 regular-season and tournament championships. A consensus first-team All-American, Deandre Ayton became the first player in Pac-12 Conference history to win Player of the Year, Freshman of the Year and Tournament Most Outstanding Player in the same season. Ayton also was named the winner of the Karl Malone Power Forward of the Year. Allonzo Trier, Rawle Alkins and Dusan Ristic joined Ayton in earning all-conference recognition, and Ristic graduated as the all-time winningest player in program history with 115 career wins. Arizona ranked fourth nationally in field goal percentage (.504) and its offense finished in the top 20 nationally in efficiency (KenPom) for the seventh time in a nine-season span. 

In 2016-17, Miller led Arizona to a 32-5 record and shared the Pac-12 regular-season title with Oregon (16-2 mark) before winning the Pac-12 Tournament in Las Vegas. The Wildcats were ranked in every AP poll of the season for a fourth consecutive year, a streak that reached 100-straight weeks before ending during the 2017-18 season. Miller was named the 2017 John R. Wooden Pac-12 Coach of the Year, while Lauri Markkanen was selected to the All-Pac-12 first team.

The 2014-15 Wildcats went 34-4, swept the Pac-12 regular season and tournament championships, earned a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament and reached the NCAA Elite Eight for the second straight year. The 34 wins marked the second-most single-season victories in program history, gave Arizona its first-ever back-to-back 30-win seasons, and the run to the regional final signified just the second time in school history that the Wildcats had advanced to the Elite Eight in consecutive years. Arizona was one of just two teams to rank in the top 10 in offensive and defensive efficiency, and the team ranked fifth nationally in field goal percentage (.488), led the nation in defensive rebound percentage (.776) and ranked second in rebound margin (+8.8). Stanley Johnson earned third-team NABC All-America accolades and won the inaugural Julius Erving Small Forward of the Year Award in addition to claiming Pac-12 Freshman of the Year honors. Johnson was joined on the All-Pac-12 first team by Rondae Hollis-Jefferson and T.J. McConnell. 

During the 2013-14 campaign, Miller led the Wildcats to a 33-5 record, a Pac-12 regular-season championship and a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, where Arizona advanced to the NCAA Elite Eight. Arizona spent eight-straight weeks as the No. 1 team in The Associated Press poll, establishing a program record for longevity at the top spot, and also won school-record 21-straight games to open the season. The No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament marked the first time the program had achieved the feat since 2003. The Wildcats ranked fourth nationally in field goal percentage defense (.380), sixth in scoring defense (58.6) and ninth in rebound margin (+7.1), and its mark of 58.6 points per game allowed was the program’s best since the 1950-51 season. Nick Johnson was selected as a first-team All-American, Pac-12 Player of the Year and a finalist for National Player of the Year honors. Aaron Gordon was named a third-team All-American and Pac-12 Freshman of the Year and was one of six finalists for the Wayman Tisdale National Freshman of the Year award. Miller was named the Pac-12 Coach of the Year in 2014.

The 2012-13 Arizona squad posted a 27-8 mark and reached the NCAA Sweet 16. He guided the Wildcats to 13-game winning streak to open that year. Solomon Hill and Mark Lyons each claimed spots on the All-Pac-12 first team. In his second season in Tucson (2010-11), the Wildcats won 30 games, claimed the Pac-10 regular-season title and advanced to the NCAA Elite Eight after an impressive victory over top-seed Duke in the regional semifinal. Derrick Williams earned consensus All-America accolades and was named the Pac-10 Player of the Year, and Miller was tabbed the Pac-12 Coach of the Year.

During Miller’s first stint as head coach at Xavier (2004-09), the Musketeers registered an overall mark of 120-47 (.719) and made four NCAA Tournament appearances in five seasons. In 2005-06, Xavier went 21-11 and won the Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament before reaching the NCAA Tournament First Round. The Musketeers followed with a 25-9 record and claimed the A-10 regular-season title while advancing to the NCAA Tournament Second Round in 2006-07. Xavier set a single-season record for most wins (30-7) and won the A-10 regular-season championship (14-2 mark) before making a run to the NCAA Elite Eight in 2007-08. Miller was named the Atlantic 10 Conference Coach of the Year, the NABC District 10 Coach of the Year and was a finalist for numerous National Coach of the Year awards in 2008. In Miller’s final year during his first stint at Xavier (2008-09), he guided the Musketeers to a 27-8 record, claimed the A-10 regular-season title and reached the NCAA Sweet 16.

Miller served for three seasons (2001-04) as associate head coach at Xavier for Thad Matta. During those three years, the Musketeers posted an overall mark of 78-23 (.772), won two Atlantic-10 regular-season titles (2002 and 2003) and a pair of A-10 Tournament crowns (2002 and 2004) and made three NCAA Tournament appearances. The 2003-04 Xavier squad registered a 26-11 record and advanced to the NCAA Elite Eight, as it defeated Texas in a Sweet 16 contest in Atlanta.

Miller spent five seasons (1996-2001) as associate head coach at North Carolina State University for Herb Sendek. He helped the Wolfpack advance to postseason play four times in those five years, including a trip to the NIT Semifinals in 2000.

 

Miller began his coaching career as a graduate assistant for one season (1992-93) working for Stu Jackson at the University of Wisconsin. He served for two years (1993-95) as an assistant coach at Miami (Ohio) University for Sendek and one season (1995-96) as an assistant at the University of Pittsburgh for Ralph Willard.

 

During his collegiate playing career, Miller was a four-year standout at the University of Pittsburgh (1987-92). He saw action in 128 career games (124 starts) and recorded 1,282 points and 744 assists while converting 41.6-percent (239-574) from three-point range and 88.5-percent (317-358) from the free throw line over his four seasons.

 

Miller was named the BIG EAST Freshman of the Year in 1988 while leading the Panthers to the BIG EAST regular-season title. A second-team All-BIG EAST selection as a senior in 1992, he helped Pittsburgh advance to three NCAA Tournaments (1988, 1989 and 1991) and was selected to the school’s All-Centennial Team in 2005. Miller still ranks in the top 20 on the program’s career scoring chart (1,282 points) and ranks in the top 30 on the NCAA Division I career free throw percentage list (.885). He also ranks fourth in career free throw percentage in BIG EAST games (.909) and fourth on the BIG EAST career assists chart for league games (401). Miller earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Pittsburgh in 1992.

 

A native of Beaver Falls, Pa., Miller and his wife, Amy, have three sons, Austin, Cameron and Braden. A legend at Blackhawk High School in the Pittsburgh area, Miller was inducted into the Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic League Hall of Fame in 2012. 

 

[CJ Vogel]

The Twitter is ready – waiting on the @ name. 

[Gerry Hamilton]

 

[Shane]

Welcome to the 40 coach ! 🤘🏻

[Joe Zura]

[Gerry Hamilton]

 

[Gerry Hamilton]

 

[.45s]

10 minutes ago, Gerry Hamilton said:

 

 

 

He and his wife need some burnt orange clothes and some Texas Gear.

[JJB432]

Welcome Coach! Really interested in staff acquisitions here.

[Ace Recruiter]

4 minutes ago, .45s said:

 

 

He and his wife need some burnt orange clothes and some Texas Gear.

They need to consult with Mrs Sark for the UT facionista swag

[MBHORNSFAN]

LFG.  🤘🤘

[Gerry Hamilton]

Six year contract 

[Gerry Hamilton]

 

[Hashtag]

Would have been funny to have this photoshopped as his Twitter PFP

[TexasFanatic]

Effff it let’s ride 

[Gerry Hamilton]

 

[pinkman_90]

57 minutes ago, Gerry Hamilton said:

 

“And right there you’ll see the 2011 Texas team who was robbed of a sweet 16 and more by a phantom 5 second call.”

He better apologize for that tomorrow 

[Hashtag]

53 minutes ago, Hashtag said:

Would have been funny to have this photoshopped as his Twitter PFP

Dang it the picture didn’t post. This is the picture I was referring to:

 

 

[Gerry Hamilton]

What They’re Saying about Sean Miller …

“Sean Miller’s passion, mind for the game and ability to develop players into winners is at a level that makes him one of the best coaches in the country. That’s seen in two primary ways in my opinion; he has won over 71-percent of the games he’s coached in, and he’s produced the second-most NBA players of any coach in the sport in the last 20 years with 27. Sean only knows one speed and it’s seen with the intensity that his teams play with. Defense and rebounding are not optional – they are required under Coach Miller. I believe he will restore the toughness to Texas Men’s Basketball that sends the program into a special era as consistently one of the best programs in the incredibly deep Southeastern Conference. Beyond the coach that Sean is, he takes pride in being active in the community with the fanbase because he has an extraordinary love for the game himself. Sean is a hoops junkie, something I saw in my year with him in the media world on The Field of 68, and his energy will be felt throughout all of the Austin community and beyond. This is a program-changing hire by the Longhorns, one that sets them up for deep runs in March for years to come because the track record of Sean is in a special class and he has an unrelenting work ethic.”

• John Fanta, FOX Sports national college basketball broadcaster and writer

 

“I’ve known Sean Miller since he was 18 years old. He’s always been dedicated to the sport in a way few are. As much time as he spent mastering his skills as a boy and a teen, it would have been easy to fall out of love with basketball. He keeps putting more and more into it, benefiting his players and teams – and the fans who watch.”

• Mike DeCourcy, The Sporting News college basketball columnist

 

“Sean Miller is a respected, winning basketball coach. He has built a sustainable culture with a championship vision wherever he has been, and he is a very skilled teacher and tactician. Sean is a basketball lifer that brings high level, winning experience to the Forty Acres.”

• Jay Bilas, ESPN

[pinkman_90]

15 hours ago, pinkman_90 said:

“And right there you’ll see the 2011 Texas team who was robbed of a sweet 16 and more by a phantom 5 second call.”

He better apologize for that tomorrow 

I mean Fire Sean Miller right now.