Texas coach Sean Miller talks changing college basketball landscape in NIL, portal era

By today’s standards, that was a quaint notion anyway. Both with the alleged amount and that such an arrangement was actually against NCAA rules when the allegation surfaced in 2018.

Top college basketball players now routinely command more than $1 million in total compensation per season and, thanks to rules allowing school-paid revenue sharing and outside-funded NIL money this season, it’s all perfectly legal.

But when Miller sat down for a pregame news conference before his Texas team faced Purdue at the SAP Center, where Arizona was also around to face Arkansas, Miller carefully answered a question about his thoughts on how the college basketball landscape has changed since he left UA nearly five years ago.

He spoke about building rosters when transfers are so much more a part of it, but not really about how the rules have changed (time did not allow follow-up questions at his short press conference).

“It's certainly changed a lot," Miller said. “I think that one thing you learn is, in everything that we do, you want it to just kind of always be how it once was, and that's just not the case.

“No question, how you build your roster, even the transfer part of things, I think there was a time when you had to be careful taking too many transfers because they had to sit out a year, and there weren't nearly as many who were willing to transfer, and now you can really, in one year, have five or six.

“There's a lot of different rules, clearly, that have affected the game, but I think what it's affected the most is just how you go about building the team that you're going to have.”

Transfers are a topic that affects Miller deeply, as with many college basketball coaches aiming for development and continuity.

Texas assistant David Miller, who is of no relation but served under Sean Miller at UA, said Sean Miller loves developing players over a long period. That's something that isn’t always possible in the NIL/transfer portal era, but was when the Wildcats had their last four-year scholarship seniors, center Dusan Ristic and guard Parker Jackson-Cartwright, before they graduated in 2018.

“Practice is everything for him, and that’s not coach-speak,” David Miller said. “The one thing is you might not have a Dusan or a Parker who went from here to there. You might have to build a new roster every year.

“But other than that, he's the same dude.”

During his 12-year tenure at UA, Sean Miller was forced to field all sorts of questions, difficult and not difficult, while pulling the Wildcats out of the turbulent transition from Lute Olson, to back-to-back Elite Eight appearances in 2014 and 2015 — and through a final four years that were played under the clouds of FBI and NCAA investigations that started in 2017.

On Wednesday, when it was Texas’ turn to take the interview podium among the four West Regional teams, four Arizona-based reporters were in the crowd. One asked Miller if he expected UA fans showing up early Thursday to watch Texas play Purdue would root for or against him.

"I would hope they would cheer for us. We're the 11 seed," Miller said, drawing chuckles. "If I were them, I'd want us to win."

Miller went on, expressing positive vibes about Arizona and even its decision to hire Tommy Lloyd from Gonzaga to replace him in April 2021 while the school let Miller’s contract run out that spring.

"My relationship with Arizona is nothing but great," Miller said. "I have three sons. They all attended the University of Arizona, and each of them had an amazing experience. Two of the three, their girlfriend, potentially maybe who they end up with as their wife, also went to Arizona.

"I have friendships (at UA) that will last a lifetime. I was treated, our family was treated, incredibly well."

Miller finished his answer by touching on Lloyd.

"My perspective of watching Arizona, they couldn't have hired a better coach. I mean, what he has done is just — it's like legendary. I know that the team that they have this year might be the best team at Arizona, one of the best ever.

"That's where that stands. … But the other part of it doesn't really exist for me. I think with that emotion, you can either burn the house down or make it warmer. I look at that place and that experience as nothing but just making my house warmer. I have nothing but positive thoughts, feelings and perspectives towards that experience."