Arizona Basketball head coach Sean Miller has not yet received a contract extension past the 2021-22 season. Should he?
The head coach of Arizona Basketball, Sean Miller, has been under a microscope lately with the on-going NCAA investigation. As a result, he has not received a contract extension since 2017. Currently he is on a three year contract that ends after the 2021-22 season. The Arizona Board of Regents does have a meeting coming up in the next couple of weeks, but Miller’s contract extension is not on the agenda. They will be though be discussing Arizona Basketball and legal advice.
There are a lot of fans and media who are on both sides of the fence here. Technically per NCAA rules, because of the actions Book Richardson took as an assistant coach, Miller is responsible and is held accountable. The university is claiming they are a victim in the FBI case. More then likely Miller and the basketball program will face sanctions of some kind. Whether it is a postseason ban or scholarship reductions, there will be serious actions that will be taken.
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Based on all of that, should Miller receive a contract extension? He has the support from President Robbins and AD Dave Heeke. They would influence the decision on whether to keep Miller or not. Plus, if you look at his coaching record and everything he has done since he started coaching at Arizona, the answer to this question would be yes.
For those that say no, he shouldn’t receive a contract extension do have legitimate argument. Whether he knew or not what Richardson was doing, he should be held accountable for his actions. Should that go as far as no longer letting him be the head coach? That is something that the Arizona Board of Regents will need to decide.
How the NCAA decides will impact the ABOR decision. The NCAA just announced that by the end of July six schools will receive Level 1 violation notices, including two high profile schools that will receive them in early July. Soon will we find out the fate of Arizona Basketball.
Another factor that comes into play here is the long term impact of keeping Miller. He will unfortunately be remembered at Arizona for not winning a national championship with all the talent he had and for this dark period in the school’s basketball program. Because of the negative attention this has brought Arizona, it will hurt the school’s overall image for the next couple of years. At the same time though he has recruited and developed some of the best talent out there that has gone to have remarkable professional basketball careers.
The other key part of all of this is the financial aspect. If Miller does get let go without actual cause, he will be owed his remaining salary of $3.4 million. There has not been any proof he actually did anything wrong and the university decides the best thing to do would be to let him go, they would be out a lot of money. Is it worth it?
His passion for the game and dedication to get the best out of his players are qualities fans appreciate about it. On the sidelines during games he gives 110%, fans love that and so do players. During senior night, he gave an emotional speech, thanking fans for the last 10 years.
Note: Speech starts at the 4:40 mark
At Zona Zealots, we have been a big supporter of Miller since day one. However the university decides to proceed after the 2021-22 season, we know it will be in the best interest of the program. For now, let us all Bear Down!