ANAHEIM, Calif. — Sean Miller has a job to do Thursday — a difficult job — trying to advance his No. 1-seeded Arizona team to the Elite Eight with a win over 31-4 San Diego State in the West Regional.
But, three hours before his game tips off at the Honda Center, Sean Miller’s brother, Archie, will be leading his Dayton team against Stanford in a South Regional game in Memphis.
The brothers Miller are the first brother tandem in NCAA Tournament history to lead two different teams to the same Sweet 16.
“It’s really a tribute to a family, to a mom and a dad,’’ Sean Miller said. “My mom doesn’t get a lot of credit because she wasn’t a coach, but she’s been there every step of the way. My dad gets a lot of credit, deservedly so because of the time he spent with us. He’s just one of those throwback coaches that knew the game, loved the game, was good at teaching and coaching, but gave that passion to his kids.
“Everywhere he went, we went. I think the day back then favored communication maybe more than today. There was no cell phone. You’re in a car with very few radio channels, so you talked a lot more. We certainly spent a lot of time together, especially in the summer, because he was a school teacher. So it’s that time, and I think his talent as a coach that he gave to us.’’
Archie Miller was an associate head coach for Sean at Arizona before taking the Dayton job. Dayton has become a darling of this tournament with its upsets of Ohio State and Syracuse en route to the Sweet 16.
“He’s at a different kind of scope where his career is, year three at Dayton,’’ Sean Miller said. “Not that I’ve been doing it for a long time, but this is year 10 for me now. So he probably reacts to things maybe a little bit in a different way. I think we both coach with a similar style. I might be a little quieter in my approach than him at this point. But he gets to year 10, he’ll probably be a lot like me. I think there are a lot of similarities.’’
Nick Johnson, Arizona’s star junior guard and leading scorer, said as happy as he was to see Archie Miller become a head coach, he was bummed to see him leave Arizona.
“As far as ‘Arch,’ he was basically my main recruiter when I was deciding to come here, so I had talked to him a lot,’’ Johnson said. “I’m super happy for what he’s doing over at Dayton. I was kind of mad when he left, but I mean, he did it for himself. It obviously has worked out. So I mean, I’m looking forward to watching their game and hoping we can meet up maybe [in the Final Four].’’
Sean Miller has been a rock for his players on and off the court, something his players credit for the closeness of the team.
“I think the most important thing about coach Miller is his relationship with all the guys off the court,’’ 7-foot center Kaleb Tarczewski said. “We all have a tremendous trust in him — not only as our coach but as a mentor, someone that can teach us things not only on the basketball court but also in real life. I think that’s why we have such a close team this year is a lot because of that connection.’
Johnson called playing for Miller, a former player at Pitt, “relaxing because he’s done all the things that we want to do. He’s been in this position and been on a top team playing point guard. So when he says stuff, it sinks in because you know that he’s been in that situation before.’’