Since the Cincinnati Bearcats basketball season ended March 14th, the program has been in a whirl win. First six players go into the transfer portal within a short period of time and second John Brannen’s seat turned hotter than a sauna. He was put on administrative leave and then fired after reports and investigation was ran on the former coach. With Brannen being a quick and some would say a lazy hire two years ago, after he was fired, athletic director John Cunningham was tasked with making his first big hire with his new program.
Most wanted wanted either Erik Martin who is an assistant coach under Bob Huggins at West Virginia or Darren Savino who is an assistant coach under Mick Cronin at UCLA. Martin played for UC from 1991 to 1993 and has been an assistant coach under Huggins the last 15 years, most would say he’s the most important guy on the staff which is why he was highly touted during this process. Savino was apart of the UC staff from 2010 until Cronin left in 2019. A lot of former players backed Martin and Savino, as they knew both have what most would call Bearcat DNA, Brannen didn’t have that and now the Bearcats are here. Their were a lot of pros for both candidates, but as much as the old and newer guard wanted a person with UC ties, it isn’t the end all be all way at hire a new coach. Huggins and Cronin both allowed the program to be super stable for over a decade and the fanbase should thank them for that, but hiring somebody from their tree while it could be the right move it isn’t the only move.
Names like Ohio State’s Ryan Pedon, Archie Miller, Cleveland State’s Dennis Gates and Charlotte Hornets Ronald Nored came up during the search as well as the two mentioned above, but eventually UNC Greensboro’s Wes Miller emerged and now is the man in Clifton.
Here are quotes from Cunningham and Miller:
“I am incredibly excited to welcome Wes into the Bearcats family,” Cunningham said. “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.”
“I’m absolutely thrilled to be the head coach at the University of Cincinnati,” Miller said. “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.”
While Miller has a ton of experience he isn’t from the Cronin or Huggins tree, but he played for North Carolina and was a finalists for the job recently that Hubert Davis just took. Reports state he is a players coach which everyone knows the programs needs right now, he’s had very good success and the national media believes UC made the right move. Miller will have to carve his own way, but #BearcatNation must accept him and let him work. It is more than one way to skin a cat and just because he isn’t from the Bearcat pipeline doesn’t mean he can’t be from the Bearcat cloth. Now that Miller is on board hopefully he can breathe new life into a proud program and within the next few years people who were mad at the higher will look back and say they were wrong. Good luck coach Miller it’s time to go to work!
