Nothing official yet, but Yahoo! Sports reports this morning that Xavier coach Sean Miller has changed his mind and will accept the Arizona job.
According to anonymous sources, Miller “”asked for a chance to sleep on the decision,”” then informed Xavier athletic director Mike Bobinski regarding his decision at noon ET.
It’s a seven-year, $18 million deal with a $1 million signing bonus.
UA athletics director Jim Livengood and university president Robert Shelton met with Xavier head coach Sean Miller early Sunday in New Mexico to discuss an opening on the Wildcats’ men’s basketball squad, according to multiple reports.
Initial reports late Sunday night indicated that Miller had turned down Arizona’s offer.
Miller, 40, makes around $1 million at Xavier, where he is 120-47 in five years. He has taken the Musketeers to the NCAA Tournament four straight times, including a Sweet 16 appearance this season and an Elite Eight berth last season.
USC coach Tim Floyd was flown into Tucson in Weitman’s jet last week to discus Arizona’s opening, but Floyd opted to continue coaching the Trojans.
Floyd and Miller are the only coaches who have been publicly disclosed as one of Arizona’s targets.
Kentucky head coach John Calipari, a friend who calls Miller his cousin, said Miller was experiencing the same things Calipari was when deciding whether to leave Memphis.
“”(Miller) has a potential Final Four team coming back next season, loves where he lives, has security and is paid well and has the best job in his league, yet has to decide whether or not this is the right job for him to explore,”” Calipari told ESPN.com.
Though Miller’s meeting with UA officials didn’t take place in Tucson on Sunday, the Xavier coach has some indirect ties to Arizona.
Miller was an assistant coach at Miami (Ohio) and North Carolina State under current ASU coach Herb Sendek. Miller was with Sendek at Miami (Ohio) in 1995 when it beat Arizona by nine points in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
Miller also lost to the Wildcats by 20 in McKale Center when he played for the Pittsburg Panthers in 1992.
What’s more, Miller is a friend of Josh Pastner, a former UA assistant coach and player who just finished coaching a year under Calipari at Memphis. Though Pastner is preparing to coach at Kentucky with Calipari, there is speculation that Pastner would have come to Tucson if Miller accepted the job as the Wildcats’ head coach.
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