If you can’t beat ‘em, make sure they join you?
That appears to be the Texas Longhorns’ thinking after they reportedly hired Sean Miller as their next head basketball coach.
Miller coached Xavier, the team Texas lost to in their First Four matchup to quickly be bounced from the NCAA Tournament, which ultimately led to the firing of Rodney Terry.
Texas announced on Sunday that it had moved on from Terry. The Austin American-Statesman reported that Miller, the longtime Arizona head coach who returned to the Musketeers, the team he led for five seasons before coaching the Wildcats, would take over the program.
Terry had been in place as head coach of Texas since the suspension of Chris Beard during the 2022-23 campaign, where he was ultimately fired due to a domestic violence accusation. Charges were eventually dropped in that case.
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Texas will be paying Terry $5.4 million in a buyout, which was part of his five-year contract he signed after making an Elite Eight run during that 2022-23 season. The Longhorns eventually lost to No. 2 Miami just before the Final Four.
“I am so appreciative to have served the University of Texas and our men’s basketball program for 13 seasons,” Terry said in a statement. “It was a dream of mine to be the head coach of the Longhorns, and I’ve been able to live that dream. I want to thank all of our coaches and current and former players who not only helped us win a lot of games, but more importantly represented this great university in a first-class manner.”
Miller is an enticing hire, and Longhorns brass clearly like what they saw from Xavier, even if it meant Texas bouncing out of the NCAA Tournament before the first round got underway.
Xavier defeated Texas, 86-80, despite the Longhorns leading at halftime in the First Four matchup. The Longhorns were already a surprising choice as one of the last teams to make it into the 68-team bracket after going 19-15 (6-12 in the SEC) on the year.
But Xavier earned the No. 11 seed they were playing for, but they couldn’t make a Cinderella run after No. 6 Illinois took them down, 86-73, in the first round. The Musketeers were only down five points at halftime, but the Fighting Illini ran away with it in the end.
Miller just finished his third season with the Musketeers, with whom he had a reunion following 12 seasons with the Wildcats from 2009-21.
Miller was fired at the end of the 2021 season, which was covered in controversy as an FBI corruption investigation into college basketball led to vacated wins for Arizona. Miller was accused of being involved in illicit payments to ensure star center DeAndre Ayton landed with Arizona instead of Kansas with Bill Self’s program.
Now, NIL rules allow a pay-to-play system, but it was strictly prohibited at the time of the investigation.
During his time with Arizona, Miller led the Wildcats to seven NCAA Tournaments before his return to Xavier for the 2022-23 campaign saw an appearance as well. After missing the tournament last season, Xavier fought their way in after going 22-12 on the year in 2024-25.
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