A new era begins:
The University of Texas announced Xavier head coach Sean Miller as their 27th men's basketball head coach Monday, March 3rd at 6:08PM and held an introductory press conference for Longhorn nation to see.
From Chris Del Conte stating the dog-like mentality he saw in Sean Miller when they first interacted, to Miller expressing his love and passion for this sport and the excitement he has for the future of this program, it’s safe to say today was breath of fresh air not only for basketball, but for the forty acres as a whole.
The four visions, what to expect in recruiting:
Miller laid out his four important visions to how he will build his program which started on the recruiting end. Miller stated that the rosters will be a combination of guys from the transfer portal, players out of high school, and guys on the international level as well. He pointed out cities that hold an immense amount of talent such as Houston and Dallas as an area to begin at and to retain the talent in the state of Texas. After the press conference Miller told the media that he plans to hit the ground running both in the portal and recruiting as well for this upcoming season.
Player growth:
His second vision of his program is player development. He understands that while recruiting is a phenomenal thing to master, it doesn’t matter much if you can’t develop that talent. He mentioned his time at Xavier where the Musketeers weren’t typically a McDonalds All-American’s first choice it just meant that he had to approach his coaching style in a different manner which led to mastering the development his players and putting them in the position to get to the next level.
Style of play:
His third vision was the team’s style of play, Miller has a reputation of an up-tempo style of play and emphasized that while he wants his team to play fast the last thing, they can do is be reckless. Emphasized that he will deliver on not only a fast and exciting style of play, but a style that people and players will love to watch. Miller also Emphasized the importance of being talented on the defensive end and having a strength in moving the ball around, an area in which Texas ranked 10th worst amongst power conferences in assist percentage this past season.
Establishing the culture:
Miller’s final vision for this program is to have a strong and reliable culture. Talked about his time in Xavier this past season, when things weren’t going well for the Musketeers who dealt with season ending injuries and close losses he sated that the reason for their bounce back performance during the season was a testament to their culture, and if you needed a reason to run through a brick wall today, just listen to the vision that Sean Miller has for this program:
The decision to leave:
This is Sean Miller’s second time leaving Xavier during his 20 years as a head coach, and he understands that he will always be a Musketeer, but it doesn’t mean it wasn’t a difficult decision for him emotionally, “it was a major struggle for me… When people believe in you, and you’ve been in a place for eight years… you become tied to so many of those teams and players in moments.”
Putting the pieces together:
Sean Miller states that he is putting together the best staff that he can possibly put together, mentions there will be a number of coaches who were with him during Xavier that will follow him to Texas. Miller states that he understands that time is slim in terms of figuring out the staff but doesn’t want to rush into any decisions. When talking about a potential General Manager for the basketball program, Miller says, “I think it is incredibly important to the future of college basketball and in any program, that’s trying to do what we’re going to try and do.”
When asked how important NIL is in order to compete at an elite level? Miller says, “ I don’t have any concerns about whether we’ll have the resources or the ability in the NIL space, I mean this is the University of Texas.”
Time to hit the ground running:
The Sean Miller era is officially underway and while some people will have their opinions about Rodney Terry on the court, we can all agree he was an amazing human being and a true role model and a leader for student athletes. That being said, the decision to hire Sean Miller can be seen in a very straightforward manner, they believe that Sean Miller will elevate the state that Texas basketball is in currently and have them in such high regard in the future, and why wouldn’t they? Miller has a 71% career win percentage, 8 regular-season conference titles, 4 Elite Eight appearances, and 8 Sweet Sixteen appearances I would expect him to elevate it too. overall, this new era of Texas basketball will be interesting and safe to say, one for the books.
The University of Texas announced Xavier head coach Sean Miller as their 27th men's basketball head coach Monday, March 3rd at 6:08PM and held an introductory press conference for Longhorn nation to see.
From Chris Del Conte stating the dog-like mentality he saw in Sean Miller when they first interacted, to Miller expressing his love and passion for this sport and the excitement he has for the future of this program, it’s safe to say today was breath of fresh air not only for basketball, but for the forty acres as a whole.
The four visions, what to expect in recruiting:
Miller laid out his four important visions to how he will build his program which started on the recruiting end. Miller stated that the rosters will be a combination of guys from the transfer portal, players out of high school, and guys on the international level as well. He pointed out cities that hold an immense amount of talent such as Houston and Dallas as an area to begin at and to retain the talent in the state of Texas. After the press conference Miller told the media that he plans to hit the ground running both in the portal and recruiting as well for this upcoming season.
Player growth:
His second vision of his program is player development. He understands that while recruiting is a phenomenal thing to master, it doesn’t matter much if you can’t develop that talent. He mentioned his time at Xavier where the Musketeers weren’t typically a McDonalds All-American’s first choice it just meant that he had to approach his coaching style in a different manner which led to mastering the development his players and putting them in the position to get to the next level.
Style of play:
His third vision was the team’s style of play, Miller has a reputation of an up-tempo style of play and emphasized that while he wants his team to play fast the last thing, they can do is be reckless. Emphasized that he will deliver on not only a fast and exciting style of play, but a style that people and players will love to watch. Miller also Emphasized the importance of being talented on the defensive end and having a strength in moving the ball around, an area in which Texas ranked 10th worst amongst power conferences in assist percentage this past season.
Establishing the culture:
Miller’s final vision for this program is to have a strong and reliable culture. Talked about his time in Xavier this past season, when things weren’t going well for the Musketeers who dealt with season ending injuries and close losses he sated that the reason for their bounce back performance during the season was a testament to their culture, and if you needed a reason to run through a brick wall today, just listen to the vision that Sean Miller has for this program:
The decision to leave:
This is Sean Miller’s second time leaving Xavier during his 20 years as a head coach, and he understands that he will always be a Musketeer, but it doesn’t mean it wasn’t a difficult decision for him emotionally, “it was a major struggle for me… When people believe in you, and you’ve been in a place for eight years… you become tied to so many of those teams and players in moments.”
Putting the pieces together:
Sean Miller states that he is putting together the best staff that he can possibly put together, mentions there will be a number of coaches who were with him during Xavier that will follow him to Texas. Miller states that he understands that time is slim in terms of figuring out the staff but doesn’t want to rush into any decisions. When talking about a potential General Manager for the basketball program, Miller says, “I think it is incredibly important to the future of college basketball and in any program, that’s trying to do what we’re going to try and do.”
When asked how important NIL is in order to compete at an elite level? Miller says, “ I don’t have any concerns about whether we’ll have the resources or the ability in the NIL space, I mean this is the University of Texas.”
Time to hit the ground running:
The Sean Miller era is officially underway and while some people will have their opinions about Rodney Terry on the court, we can all agree he was an amazing human being and a true role model and a leader for student athletes. That being said, the decision to hire Sean Miller can be seen in a very straightforward manner, they believe that Sean Miller will elevate the state that Texas basketball is in currently and have them in such high regard in the future, and why wouldn’t they? Miller has a 71% career win percentage, 8 regular-season conference titles, 4 Elite Eight appearances, and 8 Sweet Sixteen appearances I would expect him to elevate it too. overall, this new era of Texas basketball will be interesting and safe to say, one for the books.
