Indiana Basketball: Hoosiers hire Archie Miller to be their new head coach

Indiana basketball will be replacing Tom Crean with a rising star in Archie Miller.

Despite reaching four NCAA Tournaments and three Sweet 16’s in nine seasons, the Indiana Hoosiers opted to fire head coach Tom Crean after an underwhelming 18-16 season that consisted of an 11th place finish in the Big Ten and no NCAA Tournament appearance.

While some believed that Crean deserved at least one more season (IU did deal with a lot of injuries in 2016-17) and more respect from Hoosier fans that have high expectations, the marriage between the fan base and the head coach was unable to be revived.

The Hoosiers were taking a chance and it seems like that chance was worth taking. On Saturday afternoon, the program landed the big fish on the coaching carousel as they locked down former Dayton head coach Archie Miller to a seven-year contract.

Indiana hiring Dayton's Archie Miller, sources told ESPN.
— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) March 25, 2017

https://twitter.com/IndianaMBB/status/845677428043382784

Miller, the brother of Arizona head coach Sean Miller, was among many candidates who were rumored for the position but he beat out UCLA’s Steve Alford (an Indiana grad), Xavier’s Chris Mack and potentially Butler’s Chris Holtmann and Wichita State’s Gregg Marshall.

But Miller might very well be the best of the bunch.

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He molded Dayton into the flagship program of the Atlantic 10 Conference, leading the Flyers to four straight NCAA Tournaments and a surprising Elite Eight appearance in 2013-14. Miller also guided Dayton to five 20+ win seasons in his six years on the job, including two Atlantic 10 titles in the last two seasons. He was A-10 Coach of the Year in 2017 and his leadership helped his players overcome the loss of center Steve McElvene, who tragically passed away in the offseason.

Because of that success, Miller could’ve had the choice of landing any high major opening that he wanted.

Regardless, this is a perfect fit for Miller. Yes, the Indiana fan base expects not only tournament appearances but Final Fours and National Championships but there is no coach who is better suited for March success than Miller.

In fact, his knack for developing players over the course of their careers could absolutely be beneficial at Indiana. Indiana is not a program that snags one-and-done’s on a consistent basis like Duke and Kentucky. Instead, think of players like Victor Oladipo, Troy Williams, Yogi Ferrell and OG Anunoby who have improved their games drastically after multiple years within the program.

If Miller can continue to focus on player development while also snagging the occasional one-and-done type player (Cody Zeller, Eric Gordon, and Noah Vonleh), Indiana will be in business in the Big Ten.

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With a terrific area to reel in recruits (basketball is life in Indiana) and what is likely to be a fantastic coaching staff under Miller, the Hoosiers could be headed towards the top of the Big Ten standings rather quickly. This wasn’t a bad decision after all for the Fred Glass and Co.

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