Archie Miller the ‘right guy’ for Indiana Hoosiers

Miller’s image appeared in the pages of the DDN hundreds of times over the last six years. In most of the photos, he was screaming at somebody or about something. He smiled in a few photos, often because he was laughing about a bad call. He never lacked intensity while leading the Dayton Flyers.

Miller may have cracked a smile or two Monday as he spoke in front of a crowd of 200-300 fans, but for the most part, he was the same, old coach — business as usual. His facade cracked only a couple times, most of all when he looked back on saying goodbye to his Dayton players on Saturday just before his hiring was announced. He referenced the fact that he often spent more time with those players than he did with his wife Morgan and daughter Leah, who watched the press conference from the front row.

“It was very hard,” Miller said. “You bring them in, and you’re working with them for years. You’ve seen some of their ultimate lows. You see the death of a player, Steve McElvene, from Fort Wayne, Ind. You see the hurt in them all. You see their best moments, which is winning conference championships. A lot of them have reached out to me since the meeting, and I don’t think the meeting was a lot of fun, but I’m very proud of their response. I think all those guys will feel better about themselves. They’re winners. Whoever the next coach is at Dayton, I think he’s getting off to a great start, and it starts with the administration.”

The search for Dayton’s next coach continues. Athletic Director Neil Sullivan and President Eric F. Spina have kept a tight lid on the pursuit.

Indiana’s search ended Saturday. Now Miller’s quest to return the Hoosiers to national prominence begins.

“Getting to know Archie,” Indiana Athletic Director Fred Glass said, “I’m even more confident than ever that he is the right coach to lead us to meet our very high expectations here at Indiana University, and I’ve got to say, Archie, after observing your first team meeting, I’m even more confident than ever that you’re the right guy for us.”

Five national championship banners hung behind Glass and Miller as they spoke. This was the only type of opportunity that would have pried Miller away from Dayton. He got to know Indiana during his stint under Thad Matta at Ohio State.

“I was at a special place, and I never talked to one school in my six years at the University of Dayton other than Indiana University,” Miller said. “I think that speaks sort of volumes about the power of the brand of basketball. I’m a basketball guy. I love the Big Ten. I think it’s an excellent league with the best coaches, the best road venues in college basketball, and in my time in the league, I was blown away.”

Miller has yet to name any members of his staff, leaving open the question of whether any of his Dayton assistants will follow him. Kevin Kuwik and Tom Ostrom were on his staff for six seasons. Allen Griffin was there for five seasons. Sullivan would not say whether any of the assistant coaches are candidates.

Miller left a top-25 fan base for a top-10 fan base. Indiana ranked seventh in the nation in 2016 with average attendance of 17,106. Dayton ranked 25th (12,941). Miller will miss Dayton fans.

“They’re the classiest group of people I’ve been around,” Miller said, “and they took us in, like I said, very early on and they helped us along the way, and we worked very, very hard to get to where we were at. Upon leaving, I’m very proud. They’re tremendous people there. I’ll always root for them. I’ll always be somebody I hope they would call if they needed anything.

“It’s bittersweet. You have a lot of disappointment when you’re in Dayton before you get on the airplane, and then you have a lot of excitement here. It kind of balances itself out. But I would hope to think that our family did everything we could within the community and obviously at the university to make them proud.”