Miller fills vacancy at Indiana
Ex-Dayton coach to join Hoosiers
Fred Glass wanted to hire a proven winner for Indiana’s next coach. The athletic director didn’t have to wait long — or travel far to find what he was looking for.
Saturday, less than 24 hours after UCLA coach Steve Alford pulled his name out of the sweepstakes, Glass announced he hired Archie Miller from Dayton. Miller replaces Tom Crean, who was fired March 16 after missing the NCAA tournament five times in nine seasons.
“Archie Miller was on my short list from the very beginning,” Glass said in a statement. “The more I learned about him, the more convinced I became that he is the coach we need to meet our high expectations for many years to come.”
Miller will be introduced at a Monday afternoon news conference.
Miller, 38, comes from a basketball family and put together a solid track record in six seasons with the Flyers — earning a school-record four consecutive NCAA tournament bids, winning 24 games in each of those seasons and claiming the past two Atlantic 10 Conference regular-season titles.
Miller’s older brother, Sean, coaches at perennial powerhouse Arizona, and the younger Miller is considered one of the brightest young coaches in America.
“IU is one of the greatest basketball programs and academic institutions in the country and I cannot wait to get started,” Miller said. “With peerless fan support, outstanding facilities and tradition, a beautiful campus, and located in one of the most fertile recruiting areas in the country, IU is a dream destination for me and my family.”
A historic matchup
No NCAA tournament has featured so much history as this South regional final. North Carolina and Kentucky have combined for 244 tournament wins. This is Kentucky’s 56th NCAA berth, ahead of only North Carolina (48) for the most appearances in history. Only North Carolina has earned more No. 1 seeds (16) than Kentucky’s 12. Nobody has made more Final Fours than North Carolina with 19, while Kentucky has eight national titles.
A change in fortune
Florida is in the Elite Eight for the first time since 2014 after Chris Chiozza’s stunning 3-point buzzerbeater lifted the Gators past Wisconsin. It’s also Florida’s first regional final under coach Mike White — a former Mississippi guard who was on the losing end of one of the most famous gamewinning shots in NCAA history. White and the Rebels were upset by Valparaiso on Bryce Drew’s buzzer-beater in 1998. Does this one make up for that?
“Hell yeah,” said White, a second-year coach who replaced Billy Donovan. “With an emphasis on the hell. Yeah. Absolutely. What a neat game to be a part of, especially when you’re on the winning end.”
UCLA’s Ball going pro
Star freshman Lonzo Ball says he’s one and done and headed to the next level. The guard said after his team lost to Kentucky in the Sweet 16 that he is moving on from the college game.
Division II championship
Justin Pitts scored 23 points, Chris-Ebou Ndow had a double-double and Northwest Missouri State (35-1) beat Fairmont State, W.Va. (34-3), 71-61, in the NCAA Division II championship in Sioux Falls, S.D.