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NC State Wolfpack: Archie Miller Goes to…Indiana

By John Woodcock

Mar 17, 2017; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Dayton Flyers head coach Archie Miller reacts against the Wichita State Shockers during the second half in the first round of the 2017 NCAA Tournament at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. Mandatory Credit: Thomas J. Russo-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 17, 2017; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Dayton Flyers head coach Archie Miller reacts against the Wichita State Shockers during the second half in the first round of the 2017 NCAA Tournament at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. Mandatory Credit: Thomas J. Russo-USA TODAY Sports /
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Miller patriarch John gave some insight on why Archie Miller did not pursue the NC State Wolfpack basketball coach job.

Earlier this week NC State Wolfpack alum and former assistant coach Archie Miller became the new head coach of the Indiana Hoosiers. The former Dayton coach made the move to one of college basketball’s most storied programs in familiar recruiting territory for Miller. The only question to ask is why not the State job? It was open not too long ago before the Wolfpack brought in UNC Wilmington coach Kevin Keats.

We might now have our answer in the form of statements made by Archie and Sean Miller’s father John, according to reports from Kyle Boone of CBS Sports. Miller told Tom Archdeacon of the MyDaytonDailyNews thusly about Archie’s alma mater – “Yeah, everyone thought NC State, but I knew that wasn’t gonna happen…He knows that place too well. You gotta have trust in the people above you that they’ll stand by you.”

That statement could have been influenced by how State how treated Miller’s coach and mentor Herb Sendek. Sendek had brought State back to NCAA relevance during his tenure, but he did not win enough games against Duke and North Carolina despite his overall success. Miller had a front row seat for Sendek’s departure since he was an assistant for Sendek briefly.

State is now on its third coach since ditching Sendek. Neither of his replacements could match his acumen as an Xs and Os guy, but were flashier on the recruiting trail. It remains to be seen if Keats will turn out the same way. One simply does not win by outrecruiting Duke and UNC.

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So Miller goes to Indiana. He will face the weight of expectations, just as he would on Tobacco Road, but he should get some space since Indiana fans have learned their lesson about piling on the new guy too fast from Tom Crean. A program builder and improviser, Miller will have to make the State fans proud by succeeding in Big Ten country. It is only the Big Ten after all.

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