It’s very hard to top a season where 14 of the 16 teams in the SEC advanced to the NCAA Tournament. The level of basketball in that league was at a phenomenal level and it’s no surprise to see the national champion coming from the SEC. Florida was far from the only team making headlines last season and those headlines have certainly continued into the offseason.
With all of that success, it’s not a surprise to see that there were only a pair of head coaching changes in the offseason, with much of the buzz in the league around the transfer portal. For Texas A&M, a great season resulted in Buzz Williams bolting for Maryland, but the story wasn’t the same at rival Texas. The Longhorns weren’t satisfied with Rodney Terry’s work as their leader but we’re more than ready for the Sean Miller era to get going.
This is far from Miller’s first rodeo even if this marks his first work in the SEC. The Pennsylvania native and former Pittsburgh guard began his head coaching career more than two decades ago with his first stint at Xavier before an eventful run out at Arizona. Miller made four Elite Eights and won a great number of games in those two stints before flaming out with the Wildcats back in 2021.
After a year out of the game, Miller bounced back nicely with a second stint with Xavier. He took the Muskeeters to a Sweet Sixteen and had them back in the Big Dance again this past March. While it may have been a bit of a surprise to see him bolt Cincinnati a second time, the money, resources, and opportunity from Texas was enough to lure him to the SEC.
There’s no telling what’ll happen in the years ahead, but Texas grabs a successful head coach with plenty of bigtime experience. Miller never quite got over the top at Arizona, coming painfully shy of his first Final Four on several occasions but should have the resources to accomplish that feat in Austin. He’s taken a few of his talented Xavier pieces and already added Cam Heide, Simeon Wilcher, and a few other pieces to what should be a talented rotation next season.
With only two hires to consider, it’s easy to look at Miller’s pedigree and get excited, though expectations are sky high out at Texas. Terry led this program to the Elite Eight as interim coach just two seasons ago and couldn’t do enough to hold that job even with two more trips to the Big Dance. Can Miller experience the high point of his career and lead Texas to their first Final Four in more than two decades?