Atlantic 10 Basketball: Top 10 head coaches of the century (2000-20)

1. Sean Miller – Xavier (2004-2009)

After playing college ball at Pittsburgh, Miller’s coaching career took him to places like Wisconsin and NC State before landing on Thad Matta’s staff as an assistant at Xavier. Following three very successful seasons for the Musketeers, Matta departed and Miller was promoted to the top job.

Suffice to say, the choice to promote Miller was the correct one and the program made fantastic progress with him in charge. Xavier made four straight NCAA Tournaments under Miller, including an Elite Eight in 2008 and a Sweet Sixteen in 2009. His final three teams won the A10 regular-season title and his 103-35 mark in his final four seasons was unmatchable in the league. Simply put, Xavier was the team to beat in the Atlantic 10 during Miller’s tenure.

Miller was chosen to indirectly succeed the legendary Lute Olson at Arizona and has spent the last eleven seasons trying to build that success with the Wildcats. He hasn’t led the program to a Final Four to this point but put together some amazing teams, especially during his first decade in Tucson. For Xavier, they certainly reaped the benefits of Miller’s coaching, with the program elevated to the Big East just a few years after his departure.

We have finished our look at the ten best Atlantic 10 coaches since the turn of the century. Though the league has certainly transformed from conference realignment, the level of basketball in this conference has always been top-notch, and the future coaches and players in the league will continue this success.