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Indiana hires Archie Miller as head coach

Indiana has hired Archie Miller, head coach at Dayton for the last six seasons, to replace Tom Crean. Miller is well-respected in the college basketball world and one of the hottest names on the past few coaching carousels. Every time it seemed Miller would leave Dayton, he would end up staying and waiting for a better opportunity.

That is until Saturday, when Indiana AD Fred Glass offered Miller the chance to be the 29th head coach of the Indiana Hoosiers program. According to Adrian Wojnarowski, the deal is for seven years and in the range of $4 million annually, putting his salary higher than Crean’s was.

While the level of competition is of course very different, Indiana’s results have been more up and down the past six seasons under Crean. Three Sweet 16s and two Big Ten titles have been contrasted by two years of missing the Tournament altogether and finishing 7th or lower in three of last four seasons.

Crean was tasked with rebuilding an Indiana program that was decimated by scandal and roster turnover, something he will be remembered and revered for in Bloomington forever. By year five, Crean had the Hoosiers as the preseason #1 and the #1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament. But fan sentiment began to change during that Tournament when the Hoosiers lost in embarrassing fashion to Syracuse in the Sweet 16.

In Miller, Indiana is getting a coach who has been to the NCAA Tournament in each of the last four seasons and made a run to the Elite Eight in 2014. Miller won 20+ games in five of six seasons at Dayton, going 139-63 (68-34) overall and winning two Atlantic-10 regular season titles.

“IU is one of the greatest basketball programs and academic institutions in the country,” Miller said in a statement, “and I cannot wait to get started. With peerless fan support, outstanding facilities and tradition, a beautiful campus, and located in one of the most fertile recruiting areas in the country, IU is a dream destination for me and my family.”

Miller is the younger brother of Arizona head coach Sean Miller and coached under him for two seasons before taking the Dayton job in 2011. Other assistant stops for the younger Miller include NC State and Arizona State under Herb Sendek and Ohio State under Thad Matta. His familiarity with the region and conference, along with his sustained winning and recruiting success at Dayton more than qualify him for his new position.

Glass said that Miller was on the “short list from the very beginning.” He added that Miller “understands and embraces the special stature of Indiana University basketball and the critical relationship it must have with its former players, Indiana high school players and programs, and the entire State of Indiana.”

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