South Carolina had Sean Miller on its radar for months, CBS report says
The University of South Carolina’s interest in Sean Miller as its next basketball coach wasn’t just in the last couple of weeks.
According to CBS Sports analyst Jon Rothstein in an on-air interview Saturday, the Gamecocks started doing their homework on the former Xavier and Arizona coach a few months ago. South Carolina announced Monday that they were dismissing Frank Martin, who led the Gamecocks to their only Final Four appearance.
Miller was one of the candidates USC was considering, but he picked a return to Xavier over coaching the Gamecocks, according to several national media outlets Saturday. Xavier officially announced the hire Saturday evening.
“South Carolina had prioritized Sean Miller as a candidate for its vacancy for the last couple of months, so they were able to vet his background — Could they hire him? Would there be a fallout from the NCAA situation, FBI situation a couple years ago?” Rothstein said Saturday from the CBS Sports Network studio.
Miller spent 11 seasons with Arizona. The Wildcats fired Miller last April after the NCAA charged the school with five Level I violations. Miller has denied any wrongdoing.
Rothstein said Miller is probably in line for a Level I violation by the NCAA for lack of head coach control. The punishment would be similar to the one handed to Auburn coach Bruce Pearl, who was suspended two games.
Miller served as an assistant under Thad Matta for the Musketeers from 2001-04, then was promoted to head coach from 2004-09. In that time, Miller led Xavier to the NCAA tournament four times in five years, going as far as the Elite Eight.
Xavier fired coach Travis Steele this week and hasn’t made the tournament since 2018. The Musketeers have a better basketball history with 19 NCAA tournament appearances since 1997. USC has made four trips to the Big Dance during that span.
“South Carolina pressed Sean Miller hard for his services and that was a potential re-entry point (to college basketball). But as you guys know, South Carolina, especially in the SEC right now, is an arduous, arduous job to climb in that league,” Rothstein said.
Miller isn’t the only candidate who the Gamecocks are going to lose out on in the search. Cleveland State’s Dennis Gates, a name also brought up in the USC search, is likely to be the next head coach at Missouri, according to multiple reports Saturday.
With those two out of the running, other names likely still in the running are Wake Forest assistant and USC Hall of Famer BJ McKie, Furman coach Bob Richey and Chattanooga’s Lamont Paris.
