Arizona Basketball: Sean Miller isn’t easily replaceable

As the Arizona Basketball program officially moves on from the Sean Miller era after 12 rather successful seasons, replacing him will not be an easy task. 

It has been a whirlwind of events and emotions the past 72 hours for Arizona Basketball as the program decided to move on from the Sean Miller.

After 12 rather successful seasons in Tucson, the Miller era is over, and since his firing, the hot takes have been out in full force.

Arizona Wildcats

So far, we have seen numerous names pop up regarding the head coaching vacancy. From former players and alumni to top assistant coaches, etc. it seems like the Wildcats have a few options available.

However, the major thing to note here is that at this point, there are no proven coaches that are going to be an immediate or obvious upgrade.

Now look, I know that last point won’t land well with some that aren’t fans of Miller, simply because the Miller detractors are too busy looking at recent results. However, nothing changes from the fact that at the end of the day, he’s still a head coach with over 400 wins, a 73+ percent winning percentage, multiple conference championships, multiple Sweet 16s, Elite 8s, etc.

By comparison, Arizona’s best options at replacing Miller are potentially hiring a coach with a 71-77 head coaching record, or hiring a guy who is a top assistant at an elite school that has yet to coach a single game. In short, the options are bleak.

Was it the right time to move on from Miller? Maybe, perhaps Arizona needed a fresh start, but hindsight is always 20-20, and for a program that hasn’t had a losing season in over 30 years, time will tell if this was the right choice.

However, there’s no getting over the obvious that replacing Miller will be no easy feat, and if over the next 5-10 years the Wildcats are still unable to get to that elusive fifth Final Four, this move may not be so widely accepted.