College basketball coach Sean Miller shocked nearly everyone on Sunday when it was reported that he’d be leaving his post at Xavier University to take over for the Texas Longhorns after just three years (albeit in his second stint) in Ohio.
The news came just two days after the Musketeers were eliminated in the first round of the 2025 men’s NCAA tournament—and thus spawned a bit of anger and frustration from college basketball fans.
In his introductory presser on Tuesday afternoon, however, Miller took time to acknowledge Xavier, who hired him after he was fired from the University of Arizona, and also addressed the difficulty of his decision to leave.
“Xavier University is a small Jesuit school in Cincinnati, Ohio, and it is an amazing place. To be a college basketball coach there has incredible meaning to the university,” the coach said, per the Cincinnati Enquirer. “Their athletic director Greg Christopher and president Colleen Hanycz believed in me, gave me an opportunity.”
“I’ve been a coach for 32 years in college basketball,” he continued. “Eleven of those 32 were at Xavier, eight as the head coach in two different stints. It’s a place that trusted me, believe in me. When I tell you that I’m forever a part of them and forever grateful, that would be an understatement.”
Later, asked how hard it was to leave the university for a second time, Miller said it was a “major struggle.”
“It tugs at your heart when people believe in you, and you’ve been at a place for eight years as the head coach,” Miller said. “You have family and friends. You become tied to so many of those teams, players and moments. So much of it is doing more with less at a place like that. There’s a lot of pride and it starts to become a part of who you are when you’re in that.
“At the end of the day, this is a life-changing opportunity for me and my family. I believe this gives us the best opportunity to compete and win national championships.”
Per CBS Sports, Texas had had its eyes on Miller two years ago, but ultimately went with the now-fired Rodney Terry instead.
With the move, the 56-year-old coach now takes the hoops helm at one of perhaps the most famous and most well-funded schools in all of college sports—and for a coach who surely wants to make his mark on NCAA history, the Longhorns do probably give him one of the best shots.
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