NCAA Basketball: 5 best coaching hires from 2022 offseason

3. Sean Miller, Xavier

Retreads don’t always work out well. There’s reason to belief Sean Miller is motivated to make it work for a second time with the Xavier Musketeers.

Miller’s first tint at Xavier was very successful. After taking over for Thad Matta in 2004, Miller guided the Musketeers to four NCAA Tournaments and won three Atlantic 10 regular-season titles. Miller led the team to the Elite Eight in 2008 and Sweet Sixteen in 2009 before departing for Arizona.

Despite how it ended – and it ended very badly – Miller didn’t do a terrible job shepherding the Wildcats program. He was no Lute Olson, but he did take Arizona to the Elite Eight on three separate occasions and the Sweet Sixteen on another two tries.

This is a perfect opportunity for mutual beneficence on both sides. Miller can repair is tainted reputation in a quieter market than the stories Arizona program. Xavier can return to its usual NCAA Tournament heights and reemerge as a factor in the Big East.

The roster is in flux for next season, not only because that’s how modern college basketball works, but also because the Musketeers are still playing in the NIT, so nobody has announced transfer intentions to this point. Commit Kam Craft affirmed he was sticking with Xavier after the Miller hire, so that’s a positive start.

But much of Miller’s first-year success will depend on what happens on the transfer and recruiting trail in the next few weeks. If all goes well, Miller will be setting himself up for a successful tenure at Xavier, motivated to prove all the doubters wrong.