Less than five years after he was hired, the University of Cincinnati has fired men’s basketball coach Wes Miller.
The decision was made Friday, March 13, after Miller met with UC Director of Athletics John Cunningham and Senior Deputy AD John Daniel in the Lindner Center.
Contractually, before March 31, Wes Miller’s buyout is $9.9 million. It would drop to $4.69 million on April 1. It is unknown whether there was a negotiation of those terms.
Miller had no comment for The Enquirer as he departed Cunningham’s office. Minutes later, Cunningham left with Executive Senior AD Brad Pike and likewise would not comment.
Miller’s UC teams did not make the NCAA Tournament in his five years.
The final blow came in familiar style for those who have followed UC basketball in March. The Bearcats became unhinged against UCF in the Big 12 tournament. They led by a dozen with under 10 minutes to go and by eight at the 2:17 mark.
Turnovers were produced like Busken’s on a busy morning, and a final shot in regulation by Day Day Thomas airballed. Thomas seemed to have a pulse in overtime and got UC within 66-65, but the stunned Bearcats couldn’t respond, and a possible win to put them in the NCAA Tournament disappeared.
The Bearcats finished 18-15 with 12 of those losses coming against Quadrant 1 teams. Their three Quad 1 wins were vs. then-No. 2 Iowa State, then-No. 8 Kansas and vs. BYU.
The March 11 loss to UCF was just UC’s fourth loss when leading at halftime; they also fell short against then-No. 6 Louisville, then-No. 2 Houston and West Virginia. They only won a single game when trailing at halftime: a Nov. 16 buy game with Mount St. Mary’s.
The Feb. 8 home loss to West Virginia featured a 14-point halftime lead that disintegrated, causing Miller to apologize on the radio, in his press conference and to those waiting for a phone response by the locker rooms.
The Bearcats were 11-12 on Feb. 5, then won seven of their next 10, but late losses at TCU and in the March 11 meltdown vs. UCF featured 19 turnovers, an excessive amount for an alleged tournament team this late in the season.
“If it’s about the best teams at this point, we’re one of the best teams in the country,” Miller said after the UCF collapse. “We’re an NCAA Tournament team. I think we’ve won seven of our last 10 Big 12 games. When’s the last time someone won seven out of 10 in the Big 12 and didn’t play in the NCAA Tournament? I certainly feel we belong. I know tonight (vs. UCF) would have helped. It wasn’t like we got run out of the gym. We had a three- or four-possession lead late in the game.”
After his initial season in 2021-22, Miller’s contract was extended through 2028-29 by Cunningham, who saw him as the man to lead the Bearcats into the Big 12.
In the American Athletic Conference, Miller was 18-18 in two seasons and 41-28 overall. In his first two Big 12 seasons, UC was 14-24 and 41-31 overall. In his fifth and final season, UC went 9-9.
Miller math
Miller’s teams were 100-74 at UC (57.5%). He was 185-135 at UNC-Greensboro (57.7%) and 285-209 overall (57.8%). At UC, Miller delivered two NIT appearances, one in the Crown and presumably a Crown invite this season.
By comparison, in two seasons, John Brannen won 60.4% of his games, Mick Cronin 66.8%, Andy Kennedy (one season) 61.8%, Bob Huggins 75.9%, Gale Catlett 74.1%, Tay Baker 67.6%, Ed Jucker 80.1% and, George Smith 73.3% and John Wiethe 69.3%.
Since the 1950s, the only two coaches who won less than Miller were Ed Badger 48.9% and Tony Yates 41.2% in a disappointing stretch between 1978-89.
In 2021, Miller was viewed as ‘good hire’
In 10 years at UNC-Greensboro, Miller won over 20 games in his last five seasons and made two NCAA Tournaments. Upon hiring Miller, Cunningham talked of his program-building skills.
“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,” Cunningham said in April 2021. “We cast a very wide net in this search, and Wes emerged as the right coach to lead the Bearcats into the future.”
He came with the hearty endorsement of his former coach, Roy Williams. Miller helped the Tar Heels win a national championship and went from a walk-on transfer to a starting position during his playing career.
“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.
Even Cronin, who departed for UCLA after UC’s last NCAA Tournament appearance in 2019, endorsed Miller.
“Wes Miller is a good guy and a great young coach,” Cronin told The Enquirer.
Winning numbers crucial in Power Four conferences
At UC, Miller reached 20 wins twice in five seasons and was shut out of the NCAA Tournament. The Bearcats had one winning conference record, an 11-7 finish in 2022-23 in the ACC for fourth-place.
Miller did rack up more wins before his 40th birthday than many successful coaches with 217. Phog Allen and Bob Knight had more, but Miller’s total was more than what Rick Pitino, Huggins, Shaka Smart, Bill Self, John Calipari and Jim Boeheim had at that age.
Other factors leading to change
Miller’s teams had winning records in Quad 2, 3 and 4 games but couldn’t secure an impressive number of Top 25 wins. They were 2-6 this season and 8-26 overall. In five years, when trailing the game with five minutes left, they were 4-61, and when down with two minutes to go they were 2-62. One of those wins was against the last-place Big 12 team, Utah, at Fifth Third Arena.
Season-by-season highs, lows
2021-22 (18-15, 7-11 AAC)
Biggest win: In the Hall of Fame Classic Nov. 22 in Kansas City, UC took down No. 14 Illinois, 71-51
Bad losses: After the trip to Kansas City, UC came home and lost to Monmouth, 61-59. On Dec. 11, Xavier won the Skyline Chili Crosstown Shootout at Cintas Center, 83-63. The regular season ended with five straight losses, including a Senior Day 56-54 defeat to USF, who was 8-20.
2022-23 (23-13, 11-7 AAC)
Best win: On Feb. 19, 2023, David DeJulius hit a buzzer-beater at UCF for a 73-71 victory that was a Quad 1 win. The Bearcats played the game without an injured Viktor Lakhin.
Bad losses: Before going to the Maui Invitational, UC lost its first-ever game to NKU in their arena, 64-51. The Bearcats scored just 11 second-half points. They made a valiant comeback but lost the Crosstown Shootout at Fifth Third Arena, 80-77, to Xavier. On Feb. 16, 2023, with Roy Williams in attendance, UC lost to East Carolina, blowing a 16-point lead with 10:06 to play. Unfortunately, Miller never won a UC game that Williams attended.
2023-24 (22-16, 7-11 Big 12)
Best wins: UC won at No. 15 Texas Tech on Feb. 3, 2024, 75-72, and defeated No. 16 Kansas in the Big 12 tournament in Kansas City, 72-52, sending the Jayhawks home after one game.
Bad losses: Another loss at Xavier, 84-79, on Dec. 9, plus a loss to the Dayton Flyers whose fans outnumbered UC’s at Heritage Bank Center, 82-68. The Bearcats had a run of ranked teams, losing to No. 25 Texas, 74-73; No. 14 Baylor, 62-59; winning against No. 19 TCU, 81-77; losing at No. 15 Oklahoma, 69-65; and at No. 7 Kansas, 74-69.
2024-25 (19-16, 7-13 Big 12)
Best wins: Miller finally beat Xavier, 68-65, at Fifth Third Arena, then downed No. 22 Dayton, 66-59, at Heritage Bank Center. Up until their Jan. 17 takedown of No. 2 Iowa State this year, the 2024 Flyers win was UC’s last win over a ranked team.
Bad losses: The Big 12 season started with a lethargic loss at Kansas State, 70-67, which led into a rough January. UC had a halftime lead on Kansas, then couldn’t score (15 points) in the second half and lost, 54-40, to the Jayhawks. In a rematch with 15-15 Kansas State, they lost, 54-49, when leading at halftime, then lost on the road to a 15-16 Oklahoma State team, 78-67. In the Crown tournament, after beating DePaul, they faced a UCF team that had lost eight players in the portal, but the Knights prevailed, 88-80.
2025-26
Best win: Easily the Jan. 17 win over No. 2 Iowa State, 79-70, that featured a court storm. It was the highest-ranked win of Miller’s time. It was the highest-ranked win since UC beat No. 2 Syracuse in the Big East tournament in 2012.
Bad losses: None were worse than the Nov. 26 Quad 4 loss to Eastern Michigan, 64-56. Baba Miller and Jalen Celestine didn’t play and Jizzle James wasn’t yet on the roster, but it should never have mattered.
Miller brought players, but not results
Miller had entertaining players like Landers Nolley II, Dan Skillings Jr., Simas Lukošius, John Newman, Day Day Thomas and Jizzle James.
From the portal, he lost to Utah Valley State, then brought in 7-footer Aziz Bandaogo. He lost to UCF in the Crown, but convinced 7-foot-2 Moustapha Thiam to be a Bearcat.
The 2024-25 team was preseason No. 20 and as high as No. 16, but diminished despite having Dillon Mitchell and several key returners. Adding Thiam this season, along with Baba Miller, Kerr Kriisa, Jalen Celestine and Sencire Harris, seemed to be a step up. But, Jalen Haynes from George Mason was injured all year and Shon Abaev and Keyshuan Tillery had freshmen moments.
Saddest of all is that Day Day Thomas finishes his career never having played in an NCAA Tournament.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Cincinnati Bearcats fire Wes Miller after 5 seasons
Reporting by Scott Springer, Cincinnati Enquirer / Cincinnati Enquirer
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
