It looks like Miller will be getting a $200,000 raise. Here is what Dustin Dow from the Enquirer said:
Miller’s new contract is worth a total compensation value of just less than $1 million with a base salary between $700,000 and $800,000. Miller had been making a base salary between $500,000 and $600,000 with a total compensation value – including perks such as a country club membership and a vehicle – of around $800,000.Miller first came to Xavier 2001-02 to be an associate head coach under Thad Matta. Two days after Matta left for Ohio State in July 2004, Miller took over as head coach with a base salary of $329,460.
The deal keeps Miller as the 2nd highest paid coach in the A-10, as Rick Majerus is making $1 million a year for Saint Louis. The initial aim of reworking Miller's deal was to push him above Majerus's deal in a move with more significance in establishing Xavier as the class of the A-10 than anything else. However, I suspect that the reworking of Miller's contract will become an annual event. In my view as long as Xavier can perpetually scrape together a package to keep Miller happy and persuade him from listening to the big payday offers from the state schools, obviously they will be fine. With the 'All for One Club' and the the creative seating plans at Cintas Center Xavier certainly seems liek they will have the ability to keep Miller around for as long as he would like to stay.
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Miller inks new deal
From the Xavier Athletic Office:
CINCINNATI --- Xavier University Associate Vice President and Athletic Director Mike Bobinski announced today that the University and head men’s basketball coach Sean Miller have agreed to an extended contract that will run through the 2017-18 season. The 39-year-old Miller, who had a six-year contract when he was hired on July 8, 2004, is receiving his third contract extension and the longest ever given to a Xavier University head coach. The new deal is a 10-year agreement beginning in the 2008-09 season and running through the 2017-18 season.
“This agreement represents an unprecedented commitment by Xavier University to head coach Sean Miller,” said Bobinski. “It reflects our strong belief in Sean’s leadership of our basketball program and further solidifies our mutual desire to achieve success at the highest level of Division I basketball.”
Miller has raised his career record to 93-39 (.705) in four years at the helm, including 30-7 this past season and a trip to the NCAA Tournament “Elite Eight.” The 30 wins broke the school record of 28 set in the 1989-90 season. Miller was named the 2007-08 Atlantic 10 Conference Coach of the Year after leading Xavier to a 14-2 record and a second straight A-10 regular season title. The National Association of Basketball Coaches named Miller as its 2008 NABC District 10 Coach of the Year. He was a finalist for numerous National Coach of the Year awards.
“I would like to thank (Xavier University President) Fr. Michael Graham and Mike Bobinski for their incredible support of our basketball program and continued belief in me as the head coach,” said Miller. “Today’s commitment reinforces my own beliefs and excitement about our future together. With great anticipation I look forward to continuing to build our program and the challenges that accompany doing so.”
Miller has won 93 games as XU’s head coach and stands in fifth place for wins in Xavier history. He is the 16th head coach in XU history. He is now alone in first place all-time in XU history for most wins in the first four seasons as head coach with 93.
Miller, who secured his third straight 20-win season, made his third straight NCAA Tournament appearance. Miller has won back-to-back Atlantic 10 Conference Regular Season Championships (2007 and 2008) and an A-10 Tournament Championship (2006).
Xavier holds the second-best record in March in NCAA Division I since the 2001-02 season, which was Miller’s first season on the Xavier campus, the first of his three seasons as Xavier’s first-ever associate head coach. 2008 NCAA Champion Kansas (47-10 for .825) is first, Xavier (35-12 for .745) is second and 2008 NCAA Runner-up Memphis (43-15 for .741) is third on the list.
Xavier finished 25-9 overall in the 2006-07 season in Miller’s third year as the Xavier University head coach. Xavier won the 2007 Atlantic 10 Conference Regular Season Championship and advanced to the second round of the 2007 NCAA Tournament. Miller finished 21-11 in the 2005-06 season, winning the 2006 Atlantic 10 Championship and earning a berth into the NCAA Tournament.
Miller took over as head coach in 2004. Miller, who replaced Thad Matta, was Matta’s right hand man the previous three seasons as XU’s first-ever associate head coach. Miller helped XU record three straight 26-win seasons and three straight NCAA Tournament appearances that culminated in the 2004 “Elite Eight” run.
Miller came to Xavier after coaching stops at North Carolina State, Pittsburgh, Miami (Ohio) and Wisconsin. Miller has now coached on 13 teams that have advanced to postseason play in his first 16 seasons as a head coach, an assistant or an associate head coach. That now includes six NCAA Tournaments in his first seven years at Xavier.
Sean and his wife, Amy, have three boys, Austin, Cameron and Braden.
More to come on the specifics of the deal.
CINCINNATI --- Xavier University Associate Vice President and Athletic Director Mike Bobinski announced today that the University and head men’s basketball coach Sean Miller have agreed to an extended contract that will run through the 2017-18 season. The 39-year-old Miller, who had a six-year contract when he was hired on July 8, 2004, is receiving his third contract extension and the longest ever given to a Xavier University head coach. The new deal is a 10-year agreement beginning in the 2008-09 season and running through the 2017-18 season.
“This agreement represents an unprecedented commitment by Xavier University to head coach Sean Miller,” said Bobinski. “It reflects our strong belief in Sean’s leadership of our basketball program and further solidifies our mutual desire to achieve success at the highest level of Division I basketball.”
Miller has raised his career record to 93-39 (.705) in four years at the helm, including 30-7 this past season and a trip to the NCAA Tournament “Elite Eight.” The 30 wins broke the school record of 28 set in the 1989-90 season. Miller was named the 2007-08 Atlantic 10 Conference Coach of the Year after leading Xavier to a 14-2 record and a second straight A-10 regular season title. The National Association of Basketball Coaches named Miller as its 2008 NABC District 10 Coach of the Year. He was a finalist for numerous National Coach of the Year awards.
“I would like to thank (Xavier University President) Fr. Michael Graham and Mike Bobinski for their incredible support of our basketball program and continued belief in me as the head coach,” said Miller. “Today’s commitment reinforces my own beliefs and excitement about our future together. With great anticipation I look forward to continuing to build our program and the challenges that accompany doing so.”
Miller has won 93 games as XU’s head coach and stands in fifth place for wins in Xavier history. He is the 16th head coach in XU history. He is now alone in first place all-time in XU history for most wins in the first four seasons as head coach with 93.
Miller, who secured his third straight 20-win season, made his third straight NCAA Tournament appearance. Miller has won back-to-back Atlantic 10 Conference Regular Season Championships (2007 and 2008) and an A-10 Tournament Championship (2006).
Xavier holds the second-best record in March in NCAA Division I since the 2001-02 season, which was Miller’s first season on the Xavier campus, the first of his three seasons as Xavier’s first-ever associate head coach. 2008 NCAA Champion Kansas (47-10 for .825) is first, Xavier (35-12 for .745) is second and 2008 NCAA Runner-up Memphis (43-15 for .741) is third on the list.
Xavier finished 25-9 overall in the 2006-07 season in Miller’s third year as the Xavier University head coach. Xavier won the 2007 Atlantic 10 Conference Regular Season Championship and advanced to the second round of the 2007 NCAA Tournament. Miller finished 21-11 in the 2005-06 season, winning the 2006 Atlantic 10 Championship and earning a berth into the NCAA Tournament.
Miller took over as head coach in 2004. Miller, who replaced Thad Matta, was Matta’s right hand man the previous three seasons as XU’s first-ever associate head coach. Miller helped XU record three straight 26-win seasons and three straight NCAA Tournament appearances that culminated in the 2004 “Elite Eight” run.
Miller came to Xavier after coaching stops at North Carolina State, Pittsburgh, Miami (Ohio) and Wisconsin. Miller has now coached on 13 teams that have advanced to postseason play in his first 16 seasons as a head coach, an assistant or an associate head coach. That now includes six NCAA Tournaments in his first seven years at Xavier.
Sean and his wife, Amy, have three boys, Austin, Cameron and Braden.
More to come on the specifics of the deal.
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Xavier vs. Duke cont.
I talked to Bobinski and he said there is no deal. "Until there is a contract I can neither confirm or deny," Bobinski said.
The fact that a big time game is in the works limits the possible teams to the likes of a team like Duke, so I have to think Duke is the team in question here. If Xavier is able to sew up the loose ends on the contract then it would be a significant step forward in the face of the program on a national stage, especially important for recruiting purposes.
The fact that a big time game is in the works limits the possible teams to the likes of a team like Duke, so I have to think Duke is the team in question here. If Xavier is able to sew up the loose ends on the contract then it would be a significant step forward in the face of the program on a national stage, especially important for recruiting purposes.
Xavier vs. Duke
I just got word that Xavier is "99 percent done" with a deal to play a neutral court game at the Meadowlands in New Jersey against Duke next season. When I talked with Bobinski earlier he referenced such a game, and said that it would be on CBS. I'm trying to contact Bobinski to confirm the game.
I don't mean to be a downer, but let's not jump off the deep end
Xavier had an amazing run of success this season, making it to the Elite Eight and winning 30 games. So I suppose that it is natural for fans, media members, and everybody else to have extremely heightened expectations for next year. However, the illusion that Xavier will be back in the Elite Eight or a mainstay in the AP top 10 might only be a pipe dream. Let's analyze this a little bit more:
-Xavier does return five of their top eight players from a season ago in C.J. Anderson, Derrick Brown, B.J. Raymond, Jason Love and Dante Jackson. Granted Anderson, Raymond and Brown will all be in their fourth year at Xavier (with Brown still as a red-shirt junior), but still Xavier will be integrating essentially seven new players next year in the five freshman along with Jamel McLean and Andrew Taylor.
-The Xavier backcourt will go from an average age of 22.5 to 19 when the seniors of Lavender and Burrell are replaced by the freshman point guard that Miller says he wishes to start with (presumably Terrell Holloway) and Dante Jackson at the shooting guard spot. With the way that Xavier's schedule is shaping up the backcourt will be tested early with games against the likes of USC, Missouri, Butler, UC, and Auburn. Thankfully some of the key guys in those backcourts (USC and Butler namely) have moved on to the pro levels of the NBA or Europe but still it generally takes a freshman point guard until the middle of conference play to earn his stripes. Just look at David Gonzalez last year at Richmond. He came in and started for the Spiders from day 1, and after some early troubles turned out to be one of the better lead guards in the A-10. So it is possible that Xavier will be in good shape by the end of the season. It is just a matter of weather the early troubles with an inexperienced backcourt.
- The hope at one time was that some of the pressure of a young backcourt could be eased by increasing the minutes of Adrion Graves. Once a highly touted prospect out of Cincinnati Graves became a spectator for most of the 07-08 season. After rumors of a potential transfer Graves will return for 08-09. He remains the wild-card in that if he is able to find the confidence to step in and score 8-12 points per game off of perimeter jump shots and the occasional penetration in a similar vein as last year's B.J. Raymond than the pressure on Jackson at the 2 guard spot is lightened greatly, in turn lightening the load of the freshman at the point guard spot. However if Graves does not develop into the scorer that he is capable of than Xavier could have a tough time finding their way, especially early in the season.
-The frontcourt seems to be the strength of this Xavier squad. Anderson, Brown, and Love made up the starting lineup for the majority of the season. With the additions of McLean and Kenny Frease it look like the Xavier offense will begin from the post, a focus that will take a few games to fully adjust to.
-Undoubtedly the key to the success in 07-08 was defense. The key to that defense was the ball pressure applied by Stanley Burrell. With Burrell gone the role of defensive stopper falls on two players instead of just one: Dante Jackson in the backcourt and Derrick Brown in the frontcourt. The ability of those two to fill Burrell's shoes as the vocal defensive pressence will determine whether or not the defensive commitment of 07-08 can be duplicated.
The bottom line is that Xavier is essentially reloading in 2008-09. There is an important distinction there in that they are reloading, rather than rebuilding, which only the elite programs in college basketball are able to do. Still it will is a bit premature to expect this team to do the same things that last year's squad did.
I think Phil Martelli put it well after his team fell to Xavier on Feb. 10 this season, saying, "A lot of times teams in our league have two year runs. People say 'How did they get good so quickly?' It's not because of any young kids that they have added.... It's a two year run."
Looking at it that way, the 07-08 season was part II of a two year run, with the first part being a disappointing loss to Ohio State. If you view this year as the first of a two year run then expectations for this Xavier team become a lot more realistic. An NCAA Tournament win would be nice, but that is about a realistic goal for this team. The 09-10 season will be part II of the run and should be looked at to produce better results.
Furthermore, Xavier should not be seen as the obvious favorite in the A-10 just because they have been successful as of late. Teams like Saint Joseph's, Temple, Richmond, Rhode Island and Duquesne are moving into part II of their two year runs, so to speak. Xavier certainly will be in the top of the league, but the experience advantage that some of those squads have over the Musketeers will play a factor throughout conference play.
2008-09 should be a great season for X, but reign in the pipe dreams and just enjoy the youth of this Musketeers squad coming of age. The Final Four talk will remain hot on the back burner for a little while.
-Xavier does return five of their top eight players from a season ago in C.J. Anderson, Derrick Brown, B.J. Raymond, Jason Love and Dante Jackson. Granted Anderson, Raymond and Brown will all be in their fourth year at Xavier (with Brown still as a red-shirt junior), but still Xavier will be integrating essentially seven new players next year in the five freshman along with Jamel McLean and Andrew Taylor.
-The Xavier backcourt will go from an average age of 22.5 to 19 when the seniors of Lavender and Burrell are replaced by the freshman point guard that Miller says he wishes to start with (presumably Terrell Holloway) and Dante Jackson at the shooting guard spot. With the way that Xavier's schedule is shaping up the backcourt will be tested early with games against the likes of USC, Missouri, Butler, UC, and Auburn. Thankfully some of the key guys in those backcourts (USC and Butler namely) have moved on to the pro levels of the NBA or Europe but still it generally takes a freshman point guard until the middle of conference play to earn his stripes. Just look at David Gonzalez last year at Richmond. He came in and started for the Spiders from day 1, and after some early troubles turned out to be one of the better lead guards in the A-10. So it is possible that Xavier will be in good shape by the end of the season. It is just a matter of weather the early troubles with an inexperienced backcourt.
- The hope at one time was that some of the pressure of a young backcourt could be eased by increasing the minutes of Adrion Graves. Once a highly touted prospect out of Cincinnati Graves became a spectator for most of the 07-08 season. After rumors of a potential transfer Graves will return for 08-09. He remains the wild-card in that if he is able to find the confidence to step in and score 8-12 points per game off of perimeter jump shots and the occasional penetration in a similar vein as last year's B.J. Raymond than the pressure on Jackson at the 2 guard spot is lightened greatly, in turn lightening the load of the freshman at the point guard spot. However if Graves does not develop into the scorer that he is capable of than Xavier could have a tough time finding their way, especially early in the season.
-The frontcourt seems to be the strength of this Xavier squad. Anderson, Brown, and Love made up the starting lineup for the majority of the season. With the additions of McLean and Kenny Frease it look like the Xavier offense will begin from the post, a focus that will take a few games to fully adjust to.
-Undoubtedly the key to the success in 07-08 was defense. The key to that defense was the ball pressure applied by Stanley Burrell. With Burrell gone the role of defensive stopper falls on two players instead of just one: Dante Jackson in the backcourt and Derrick Brown in the frontcourt. The ability of those two to fill Burrell's shoes as the vocal defensive pressence will determine whether or not the defensive commitment of 07-08 can be duplicated.
The bottom line is that Xavier is essentially reloading in 2008-09. There is an important distinction there in that they are reloading, rather than rebuilding, which only the elite programs in college basketball are able to do. Still it will is a bit premature to expect this team to do the same things that last year's squad did.
I think Phil Martelli put it well after his team fell to Xavier on Feb. 10 this season, saying, "A lot of times teams in our league have two year runs. People say 'How did they get good so quickly?' It's not because of any young kids that they have added.... It's a two year run."
Looking at it that way, the 07-08 season was part II of a two year run, with the first part being a disappointing loss to Ohio State. If you view this year as the first of a two year run then expectations for this Xavier team become a lot more realistic. An NCAA Tournament win would be nice, but that is about a realistic goal for this team. The 09-10 season will be part II of the run and should be looked at to produce better results.
Furthermore, Xavier should not be seen as the obvious favorite in the A-10 just because they have been successful as of late. Teams like Saint Joseph's, Temple, Richmond, Rhode Island and Duquesne are moving into part II of their two year runs, so to speak. Xavier certainly will be in the top of the league, but the experience advantage that some of those squads have over the Musketeers will play a factor throughout conference play.
2008-09 should be a great season for X, but reign in the pipe dreams and just enjoy the youth of this Musketeers squad coming of age. The Final Four talk will remain hot on the back burner for a little while.
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
2008 Recruiting class
I caught up with the recruits from the class of 2008, and they were surprisingly forthcoming on the topic of adding a potential 5th member to the fold for next year:
-Brad Redford-
"I talked to [the coaches] about it. It sounds like they got a good guy. It seems like he is gonna be ready to commit. It doesn't bother me any. As long as he is a good pick-up and helps the team then I am all for it."
-Mark Lyons-
"I just talked to Coach Miller, and I had a discussion with him about that because I was a little concerned about that. He just let me know that he was gonna bring in someone to complement me. So if he brings in a point guard then I can play off of the ball, and on the ball. He could just use me for more of my abilities, because I have a knack for scoring as well. He just looked at our roster and he thought that we needed another guard, and if I can score the basketball then why take that away from me."
- Kenny Frease-
"I don't think that person would have any trouble fitting in with this group of guys (incoming class). It seems that we are all pretty outgoing guys, but we haven't spent enought time together to be really good friends. So another guy coming in wouldn't be any different than if he was with us for a year or so."
So it sounds like Xavier is set to add a new recruit at point guard in 2008, presumably Cincinnati Harmony's Terrell Holloway.
While Xavier does not want to push any of their current players out the door it is now a foregone conclusion that at least one of the 10 scholarship players slated to return for next season will be transfering to another school. The obvious candinates are Adrion Graves and Charles Bronson, since neither recieved a great deal of playing time. Seeing as how Charles Bronson is going to be 25 years old in a few weeks I can't imagine he is too anxious to transfer and sit out another year. So my choice for most likely to transfer is Adrion Graves.
Whoever the transfer is he has now notified Miller of his desire to transfer, and Miller has lined up a replacement (a point gaurd by the sound of it) to step in for 2008. I would assume the announcement of the transfer will come sometime after the April 15 basketball banquet. In the meantime prospective coaches are not allowed to contact a potential transfer target until they have declared their desire to transfer. So Miller would have to be the lead man to make the phone calls arranging a new destination for the player who desires to transfer.
-Brad Redford-
"I talked to [the coaches] about it. It sounds like they got a good guy. It seems like he is gonna be ready to commit. It doesn't bother me any. As long as he is a good pick-up and helps the team then I am all for it."
-Mark Lyons-
"I just talked to Coach Miller, and I had a discussion with him about that because I was a little concerned about that. He just let me know that he was gonna bring in someone to complement me. So if he brings in a point guard then I can play off of the ball, and on the ball. He could just use me for more of my abilities, because I have a knack for scoring as well. He just looked at our roster and he thought that we needed another guard, and if I can score the basketball then why take that away from me."
- Kenny Frease-
"I don't think that person would have any trouble fitting in with this group of guys (incoming class). It seems that we are all pretty outgoing guys, but we haven't spent enought time together to be really good friends. So another guy coming in wouldn't be any different than if he was with us for a year or so."
So it sounds like Xavier is set to add a new recruit at point guard in 2008, presumably Cincinnati Harmony's Terrell Holloway.
While Xavier does not want to push any of their current players out the door it is now a foregone conclusion that at least one of the 10 scholarship players slated to return for next season will be transfering to another school. The obvious candinates are Adrion Graves and Charles Bronson, since neither recieved a great deal of playing time. Seeing as how Charles Bronson is going to be 25 years old in a few weeks I can't imagine he is too anxious to transfer and sit out another year. So my choice for most likely to transfer is Adrion Graves.
Whoever the transfer is he has now notified Miller of his desire to transfer, and Miller has lined up a replacement (a point gaurd by the sound of it) to step in for 2008. I would assume the announcement of the transfer will come sometime after the April 15 basketball banquet. In the meantime prospective coaches are not allowed to contact a potential transfer target until they have declared their desire to transfer. So Miller would have to be the lead man to make the phone calls arranging a new destination for the player who desires to transfer.
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