Former UNC Greensboro head coach Wes Miller is heading to the University of Cincinnati to become the next head coach of the Bearcats, UC athletic director John Cunningham confirmed to The Enquirer.
Five things to know:New Cincinnati Bearcats basketball coach Wes Miller
"I'm absolutely thrilled to be the head coach at the University of Cincinnati," Miller said in a statement. "I'm thankful for President Pinto and (AD) John Cunningham for bringing me into the Bearcats family. I am honored to lead such a storied program and excited to get to work. I also can't thank UNCG enough because I wouldn't be here without my players and athletic director Kim Record. This last decade coaching the Spartans has been extremely rewarding."
Miller will be the Bearcats third head coach since 2006. John Brannen coached at UC from 2019-2021, and Mick Cronin led the program to nine straight NCAA Tournaments during his tenure from 2006-2019.
“Wes Miller is a good guy and a great young coach," Cronin told The Enquirer. "I will always love the Bearcats and I believe UC has made a great hire and the future is bright.”
In less than a week, the Bearcats fired one coach and hired a new one.
On Friday, Cunningham announced that UC fired head coach John Brannen. The Bearcats reached the American Athletic Conference Tournament title game in 2021, but UC had a 12-11 record in the regular season and its worst winning percentage since 2007.
After the season, six players entered the transfer portal, including standout freshman Mike Saunders Jr. and Tari Eason.
Following the run of players entering the transfer portal, UC launched a review of allegations related to its men’s basketball program on March 26. One week later, Cunningham announced men’s basketball head coach John Brannen has been placed on paid administrative leave.
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On April 9, the Bearcats announced that Brannen had been “relieved of his duties.”
UC’s coaching search progressed quickly. Over the weekend, the Bearcats interviewed West Virginia assistant coach Erik Martin, but sources told The Enquirer Martin didn’t hear back after interviewing.
After that, Miller emerged as the leading candidate and was announced as the head coach on Wednesday with a six-year contract.
"I am incredibly excited to welcome Wes into the Bearcats family," Cunningham said in a statement. "He is an extremely dynamic coach and mentor who impressed me with his drive, focus and attention to detail. He's a proven winner as a head coach and was able to rebuild a program and lead a remarkable turnaround at UNCG over the last decade. We cast a very wide net in this search and Wes emerged as the right coach to lead the Bearcats into the future."
With Miller on the way in as the Bearcats head coach, he’ll have to rebuild the roster for the 2021 season. After incoming freshman Bryson Spell decommited, Miller currently has four players on UC’s 2021 roster –– David DeJulius, Mika Adams-Woods, Jeremiah Davenport and Viktor Lakhin.
But Miller has proven he can bolster a program as a recruiter and a player development coach. He was only 28 years-old when he faced his first rebuild.
After UNC Greensboro had a 2-8 start to the 2011-12 season, the Spartans fired head coach Mike Dement and gave the reigns to Miller, who was immediately the youngest head coach in college basketball.
Since then, Miller gained 10 years of experience, 185 career wins and two NCAA Tournament appearances.
After he took over midseason for a UNC Greensboro team that was 2-8, the Spartans went 11-11 to finish the season under Miller.
In 2017-18, UNC Greensboro went 27-8 and appeared in its first NCAA Tournament since 2001. In the first round, the 13-seeded Spartans took No. 4 seed Gonzaga to the last minute but lost 68-64.
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UNC Greensboro went 29-7 the following season and was considered an at-large possibility for the NCAA Tournament. But after losing to No. 20 Wofford in the conference tournament championship, the Spartans were instead given a No. 1 seed in the NIT.
In 2020-21, UNC Greensboro went 21-9 and won the Southern Conference regular season title as well as conference tournament. In the first round, the Spartans lost 64-54 to No. 4 seed Florida State.
A former basketball player at the University of North Carolina, Miller was connected to the open position at UNC after Roy Williams’ retirement. While the Tarheels hired Hubert Davis, Miller later received a high-level coaching opportunity with the Bearcats.
"Wes Miller is one of the most outstanding young coaches in our game and what he did at UNC- Greensboro makes me believe he is the most outstanding," Williams said in a statement. "As a player at North Carolina he came closer to reaching his full potential than any player I've ever coached. His energy, his determination, his intelligence and his care for young people convinces me that he will continue at that level. I am so happy for him."
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