Sean Miller's return, and Maryland's coaching search

While everyone spent the weekend focused on who was staying and who was leaving in regards to the NBA Draft, the most interesting -- and possibly the most important -- decision on whether to stay or to go didn't involve a player.

It involved a head coach.

After the typical flip-flopping reports we are used to in the twitter-age, Miller opted on Saturday to return to Tucson, turning down the advances from the now coachless Maryland terrapins.

"I am very pleased with my situation here at Arizona and feel that President Shelton, Greg Byrne and the UA have made every effort to provide our program with the tools necessary to be successful," Miller said in a statement. "Over the last two days, the amount of inaccuracies that surrounded this entire process has been very disappointing. Hopefully, this will put an end to such speculation. Believe me when I tell you, our administration has done everything to keep me here and ensure that this will be among the elite programs in the nation."


That everything included an extension for Miller, as well as more money for the people on his coaching staff.

Its not hard to see why Miller turned down the job. He's bringing in his third straight talented recruiting class -- and this one is probably the best of the bunch -- that includes the likes of Nick Johnson, Angelo Chol, Sidiki Johnson, and Josiah Turner. He also had Shabazz Muhammed, a top five recruit in the class of 2012, on campus on Sunday and is in the lead for Chris Thomas, a top five recruit in the class of 2013.

Coming off of a trip to the Elite 8, Miller is well on his way towards building Arizona back into a national power. With everything established for next season, it simply didn't make sense for him to move his family across the country to take on another rebuilding effort at a program that is not that much of a better job than the one he currently has. In fact, Maryland is, more than anything, a lateral move from Arizona, especially considering the expected increase in exposure that comes with the Pac-12's new TV deal with ESPN.

Maryland has also been turned down by Mike Brey, Brad Stevens, Jamie Dixon, and Jay Wright, which begs the question -- is this job really as good as people have speculated?

Well, yes, it is. There is no denying the facts. The Terps have a dedicated and passionate fan base. The school is located in the middle of the fertile recruiting grounds of DC and Baltimore. They have tradition, winning the 2002 national title and sending numerous players to the NBA.

But it is also true that no established coach is going to want to leave their current job this late in the year. Recruiting is finished. Lineups and rotations are in the process of being established. Vacations need to be taken. It would be one thing if this was UCLA or Duke or Kentucky that opened up, but Maryland isn't quite on that level.

The Terps may be better off riding out interim head coach Rob Ehsan for a season before trying to land a big name candidate in next year's coaching carousel.

It worked for Arizona.

After Lute Olsen retired, the Wildcats went through both Kevin O'Neill and Russ Pennell before hitting a home run with Miller.

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On another note, I would urge everyone to read what Joe Ovies has to say about the differences between the coaching searches of NC State and Maryland. I would add one more point: NC State couldn't land a head coach because, most believe, no one wanted to compete with Duke and North Carolina in The Triangle and no one wanted to deal with Debbie Yow. With Maryland, the consensus seems to be that the Terps are struggling due to the timing of the job opening.

Whether or not that is what is actually happening is up for interpretation and only truly known by the people that turned down the respective jobs.

But it is a difference that must be pointed out.