The Wes Miller Thread

[JBB]

With the transfer portal, it won't take as long as it took Huggins and Cronin. You can reload a roster in one year now. The true test will be can a coach get a new roster to gel together in one season.

Just curious as what players will leave the program? We have some talented players to build on. I hope they are open minded to at least wait on the new coach. The good news is these players played and excelled in the Big 12.
Some may have already made up their mind, but I hope the AD and GM asks them to wait. The new coach most definitely want his own players, I just hope the roster isn’t gutted if
Thoughts?

[leo from jersey]

Just curious as what players will leave the program? We have some talented players to build on. I hope they are open minded to at least wait on the new coach. The good news is these players played and excelled in the Big 12.
Some may have already made up their mind, but I hope the AD and GM asks them to wait. The new coach most definitely want his own players, I just hope the roster isn’t gutted if
Thoughts?

It was gutted last year and at least on paper we got a better squad. There are players out there. This is the day of the transfer for $$$$$ so we will field a team. What did we have this year -- Thomas, Frenchy and a hurt Tyler to start the season. The rest was new. HoF Jr came mid season. Granted we had a couple of frosh and only 1 so far this year if he stays, but it was basically a whole new team.

[leeraymond372@gmail.com]

Per Scott Springer, John Cunningham informed him that UC will not participate in the Crown or any other postseason tourney.

Wow! That is bad news. I was hoping that UC would still field a team for the post-season. Why not? Did anyone ask the players if they wanted to play in the post-season? What about the assistant coaches, did anyone ask them about coaching the team through this transitional period? So, I guess, this is the University of Cincinnati's way of just giving up and quitting. What message is the university sending to the players?

Now I understand that travelling and lodging is expensive and there are many other factors involved that I have no clue of. Regardless, I would imagine that much of the costs of participating in these tournaments are taken care of by the Crown Tournament organizers. I am just speculating here and do not know for sure how the costs are handled. Also, maybe the school felt that the Miller firing would be too much of a media distraction and would create bad chemistry for the team.

On the other hand, who knows what could have happened. The firing of Miller may have galvanized the team and created more of an "us versus them" mentality in the players. This kind of mind set can lead to wins. I hate that UC will not be playing this post-season.

As we all know, Cunningham has a long history of making bad decisions. On the flip side, maybe Cunningham is doing what he thinks is best for UC basketball. You cannot fault a man for doing what he thinks is best.

[Gmann]

The Crown tournament would have been nothing more than a distraction with no coach and a skeleton squad. All focus needs to be on securing the coach and building for next year.

[bearcatbret]

Miller reportedly fired as UC basketball coach
Not much here from channel 12.

[Gypo O'Leary]

The Crown tournament would have been nothing more than a distraction with no coach and a skeleton squad. All focus needs to be on securing the coach and building for next year.

Apparently isn't paying out enough. The 4 semi-final teams get 50K per player. The champs split an extra 300K

[London 'Cat]

Maybe Wes should consider an assistant coaching position at a P4 school. That would permit him to recruit while absorbing coaching knowledge from a sitting P4 coach.

[kskenyon4]

Maybe Wes should consider an assistant coaching position at a P4 school. That would permit him to recruit while absorbing coaching knowledge from a sitting P4 coach.

I thought Butler could of been perfect for him to wait out Matta retiring, but he jumped the gun. I do agree his likely best long term solution is to learn some offensive tools.

[steveedwards]

Not sure if they're true, but seeing posts about Wes to UNC Charlotte. It would be a good spot for him.

[Carthage World]

Ranking Wes's 5 seasons from best to worst (relative to expectations). Interested to hear others' thoughts.

1) Year 2 (22/23)... Our final regular season in the AAC was a bit disappointing but the team earned its first NIT bid and made a little run before losing a tough game at Utah Valley. Between Nolley, DDJ, and Vik, this was a fun team to watch.

2) Year 3 (23/24)... Our first year in the Big 12 featured 7 losses by 5 or less points. The team played hard but didn't have everything fall into place to win the necessary games to get over the hump. It was largely expected that keeping this group together for another season would lead to considerable improvement.

3) Year 1 (21/22)... Wes put together a piecemeal squad on short notice after getting hired that was competitive but ultimately lacked the talent to compete with the upper half of the AAC. The early season neutral site win over a ranked Illinois team remains one of the program's best performances of his five-year reign.

4) Year 5 (25/26)... This season marked the closest the team ever got to an NCAA tournament bid largely due to its 9-9 Big 12 record. Unfortunately, a horrendous non-conference campaign put the team in too big of a hole to escape by the end of the regular season. Given the significant NIL investment in this season's squad, falling short of an NCAA tournament berth feels like a massive letdown.

5) Year 4 (24/25)... A 12-1 start to the season proved to be fools gold, as an 0-4 start to the Big 12 slate killed a lot of early momentum. The team would go onto finish with its worse winning percentage in conference play during Wes's tenure (.350) and lose in the 2nd round of the Crown post-season tournament with an extremely half-hearted effort against UCF.

[bearcatbret]

Keep in mind that if Miller gets hired, UC will still be required to pay him the difference between his new job and his salary at UC. Chatterbox Sports

21h ·
Wes Miller is reportedly among the top candidates for the Charlotte 49ers basketball head coaching position, according to Pete Nakos of On3.
Miller has strong ties to the region and continues to draw interest for his ability to rebuild programs and develop talent after reportedly being fired by the Cincinnati Bearcats last week.
With Charlotte searching for its next leader, Miller’s name is firmly in the mix as the coaching search continues.

[longtimefan]

Ranking Wes's 5 seasons from best to worst (relative to expectations). Interested to hear others' thoughts.

1) Year 2 (22/23)... Our final regular season in the AAC was a bit disappointing but the team earned its first NIT bid and made a little run before losing a tough game at Utah Valley. Between Nolley, DDJ, and Vik, this was a fun team to watch.

2) Year 3 (23/24)... Our first year in the Big 12 featured 7 losses by 5 or less points. The team played hard but didn't have everything fall into place to win the necessary games to get over the hump. It was largely expected that keeping this group together for another season would lead to considerable improvement.

3) Year 1 (21/22)... Wes put together a piecemeal squad on short notice after getting hired that was competitive but ultimately lacked the talent to compete with the upper half of the AAC. The early season neutral site win over a ranked Illinois team remains one of the program's best performances of his five-year reign.

4) Year 5 (25/26)... This season marked the closest the team ever got to an NCAA tournament bid largely due to its 9-9 Big 12 record. Unfortunately, a horrendous non-conference campaign put the team in too big of a hole to escape by the end of the regular season. Given the significant NIL investment in this season's squad, falling short of an NCAA tournament berth feels like a massive letdown.

5) Year 4 (24/25)... A 12-1 start to the season proved to be fools gold, as an 0-4 start to the Big 12 slate killed a lot of early momentum. The team would go onto finish with its worse winning percentage in conference play during Wes's tenure (.350) and lose in the 2nd round of the Crown post-season tournament with an extremely half-hearted effort against UCF.

Final Torvik ranks for Wes Miller years.

2022: 96
2023: 47
2024: 45
2025: 44
2026: 32

[GoBearcats31]

Cincinnati Athletics Announces Wes Miller Separation Agreement

https://gobearcats.com/news/2026/03/...tion-agreement

University of Cincinnati Director of Athletics John Cunningham officially announced on Thursday that Wes Miller will not return as the men’s basketball head coach next season.

“I want to thank Wes Miller for all of his hard work and the passion he brought to his job every single day,” Cunningham said. “We are excited about the next chapter of Cincinnati basketball.”



Justin Williams said he will be paid a lump sum of $3.1 million (his buyout was set to drop from $9.9M to $4.69M on April 1)

[bearcatbret]

Give Miller some due. He left gracefully. Personally, I believe that he is a good man.

[longtimefan]

Cincinnati Athletics Announces Wes Miller Separation Agreement

https://gobearcats.com/news/2026/03/...tion-agreement

University of Cincinnati Director of Athletics John Cunningham officially announced on Thursday that Wes Miller will not return as the men’s basketball head coach next season.

“I want to thank Wes Miller for all of his hard work and the passion he brought to his job every single day,” Cunningham said. “We are excited about the next chapter of Cincinnati basketball.”



Justin Williams said he will be paid a lump sum of $3.1 million (his buyout was set to drop from $9.9M to $4.69M on April 1)

My guess is Wes has another job offer so he wanted out now.