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Archie Miller received advice from John Calipari before taking Indiana job

Wichita State v Dayton

INDIANAPOLIS, IN - MARCH 17: Head coach Archie Miller of the Dayton Flyers reacts in the first half against the Wichita State Shockers during the first round of the 2017 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at Bankers Life Fieldhouse on March 17, 2017 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images)

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Indiana hiring former Dayton head coach Archie Miller to the same position over the weekend was major news and the move seemed to come so quickly.

While many believed that either Steve Alford or Chris Mack would be the frontrunner for the job, Miller was announced to a seven-year deal on Saturday morning.

The news was so surprising that Miller’s own father, John, wasn’t looped into the decision until Thursday night after Arizona and Archie’s brother, head coach Sean Miller, lost in the NCAA tournament to Xavier.

In a story from Tom Archdeacon of the Dayton Daily News, he breaks down how John Miller found out about the Indiana job from Archie in a San Jose hotel room. There were also some other people Archie spoke to before making the decision. Archie’s brother, Sean, the head coach at Arizona had some input along with Kentucky head coach John Calipari.

From Archdeacon’s story:

“When we lost to Xavier, we got back to the hotel and I was sort of in shock,” John said. “And all of a sudden Arch goes, ‘Guess what, Dad? I got a shot here (at the Indiana job). Whaddya think?’

“He listened to Sean and Cal – John Calipari is real close to us family-wise – and I spoke up a bit, too.

“I’ll tell you I was almost in tears, just like when my other guy left (Sean from Xavier to Arizona). Oh man I hated that. I loved Xavier. And now here it is eight years later and I’m in the same exact boat.

“I know in his heart Arch hates to get out of (Dayton), but that’s how it was with Sean leavin’ Xavier too. He turned Arizona down the first time, and I remember Calipari calling him up and saying, ‘Are you outta your mind? You gotta take that Arizona job!’”


The story from Archdeacon also has some interesting bits from John Miller about how he knew Archie wouldn’t take the N.C. State job while he also told some of his Dayton friends that Archie was staying put before he found out about the Indiana job in San Jose.

If Miller and Calipari are on good terms then it will be interesting to see if Indiana and Kentucky can work out a proper agreement so they are playing each other at least once a year. Clearly there is a respect between the Millers and Calipari and that will be an intriguing subplot to watch during Archie’s tenure at Indiana.