Dayton’s Archie Miller hired as Indiana men’s basketball coach.
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.
On Saturday, less than 24 hours after UCLA Coach Steve
Alford pulled his name out of the sweepstakes, Glass announced he had 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 Tourney bids, winning 24 games in each of those seasons and claiming the last two Atlantic 10 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.
Miller’s teams are known for their disciplined, hard-nosed play. Glass also dubbed Miller a tireless recruiter in the Midwest and a “noted developer of talent.”
Indiana fans wanted all of those features in their new coach — and expect postseason success, too. Miller is 139-63 in his career.
Before taking the Dayton job in 2011, Miller worked as an assistant for his brother at Arizona and as an assistant under Thad Matta at Ohio State. He also has been an assistant at Arizona State, North Carolina State, his alma mater, and Western Kentucky. And he worked on the staff with USA Basketball’s under-19 team, which won the FIBA world championship gold medal in 2015.