My friend Shannon Russell of the Cincinnati Enquirer shoots down the message boards. Russell covers Xavier and reports that Xavier coach Sean Miller was not in Lexington, as rumored, last night. In fact, Miller sent Russell a text message saying nothing was up.
Also, commenting on Shannon’s post, former Xavier beat writer Dustin Dow, who knows his stuff, wrote this:
But the UK job is the sort that Miller isn’t likely to pursue. It certainly doesn’t fit his personality. That doesn’t mean he wouldn’t listen if Kentucky came calling. But there is no indication that that has happened or even will happen. In fact, there’s a strong indication from Miller that “nothing” is happening on that front. He’s made it quite clear that he likes his situation at Xavier. While I don’t think he’s going to retire on XU’s sidelines, I do think he’s sending strong signals that he has every intention of returning next season, if not beyond, to see how far he can take this program.
As for the UK, I think Mitch Barnhart really screwed up with hiring Billy Gillispie and should share more blame that Gillispie for the way things are in Lexington right now. I’ll have more to say on this matter in the next couple days, but the last think Barnhart needs to do is make a rushed decision on a coach who really doesn’t want to be in Lexington in the first place.
