Sean Miller

Sean Edward Miller (born November 17, 1968) is an American college basketball coach who currently serves as head coach of the Xavier Musketeers.

His ball handling skills were such that he was featured in the 1979 movie The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh, starring basketball star Julius Erving.

In his junior year, he led Blackhawk to the 1986 Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic League (WPIAL) title.

In his senior year, he averaged 27 points and 11 assists per game and helped lead his Blackhawk Cougars to the 1987 WPIAL championship game.

After graduation, he chose to play basketball for Pittsburgh.

Miller played at Pitt from 1987 to 1992.

Despite being a true freshman, he was the starting point guard.

Some of his more famous teammates at the time include Charles Smith and Jerome Lane.

Many of his teammates recall his knowledge of the game and his leadership qualities.

His knowledge of the game allowed him to compete at this level, although he did not have the speed or athleticism of his peers.

Jason Matthews, the shooting guard next to Miller, recalls he was the leader of the team, even as a freshman, and that the upperclassmen welcomed him as a leader.

Because of his knowledge and leadership abilities, none of his teammates were surprised once he became a top coach in NCAA men's basketball.

Miller's collegiate statistics are: 128 games played, 1,282 points, 10.0 points per game, 744 assists, 5.8 assists per game, 261 rebounds, 2.0 rebounds per game, and 102 steals.

Sean was on the all-Rookie team for the Big East and also won the 1987-88 BIG EAST Freshman of the Year.

As of the 2023-24 season, he was the No. 21 all-time scorer for Pitt, the 2nd best three-point shooter for Pitt in a career (41.6%), still holds the Pitt top spot for career free throw % (88.5%) and had the fourth most BIG EAST career assists ever.

After graduating from Pitt with a degree in communications in 1992, Miller took a graduate assistant position at Wisconsin.

He then spent two seasons (1993–95) at Miami (Ohio) under Herb Sendek, during which the team made two postseason appearances.

He then returned to his alma mater of Pittsburgh for a season as an assistant under Ralph Willard.

In 1996, Miller rejoined Sendek at North Carolina State.

In Miller's five years in Raleigh, the Wolfpack made four postseason appearances, including a run into the 2000 NIT semifinals.

Miller's next move was a return to southwestern Ohio in 2001.

This time, he would join Thad Matta's staff at Xavier as the first associate head coach in the school's history.

The Musketeers won 26 games in each of Miller's three seasons under Matta, making the NCAA tournament each season.

He previously held that position from 2004 to 2009, after which he took the head coach position at the Arizona Wildcats, which he held until being fired in 2021.

Miller is a three-time gold medalist as a member of USA Basketball: once as a player, once as an assistant coach, and once as head coach.

Miller has won five league Coach of the Year Awards: once in the A10, three in the Pac-12, and once as USA Basketball Coach of the Year.

Miller was born in Ellwood City, Pennsylvania.

The son of John Miller, a Pennsylvania high school basketball coach, Miller was a point guard under his father at Blackhawk High School in Chippewa Township, Beaver County, Pennsylvania.

He had developed considerable ballhandling skills before that time and appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson when he was fourteen years old.

The 2004 season was especially notable.

First, the Musketeers won the Atlantic 10 postseason tournament despite having to play four games to do so.

Xavier then made a deep run in the subsequent NCAA tournament, finishing with the school's first-ever appearance in the Elite Eight.

Taking over as head coach at Xavier after Matta moved on to Ohio State, Miller took the Musketeers to four NCAA tournaments.

Miller won three A-10 regular season championships and one A-10 conference tournament championship.

In the 2008 NCAA tournament, the 3rd seeded Musketeers were eliminated in the Elite Eight by #1 seed UCLA after beating Georgia, Purdue and West Virginia.

In 2009, Xavier was eliminated in the Sweet 16 by another #1 seed, Pittsburgh.

After the tournament, Miller was announced to be a possible candidate for the vacant head coaching position at Arizona, which had spent two years under interim head coaches in the wake of the illness and retirement of Hall of Fame coach Lute Olson.

He initially turned the job down before changing his mind and accepting the job on April 6, 2009, despite having never visited the Arizona campus.

He was succeeded at Xavier by former assistant Chris Mack.

Furthermore, he ranked 10th among career Division I free throw shooters at .885.