Wes Miller

Warren Weston Miller (born January 28, 1983) is an American basketball coach and former player, who is the head men's basketball coach at the University of Cincinnati. Born in Greensboro, North Carolina, he played at the collegiate level for James Madison University and the University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill, where he graduated in 2007. Professionally, Miller played for London Capital of the British Basketball League. Prior to that, he was head coach at UNC Greensboro, and served stints as an assistant coach at Elon University and High Point University.

Wes Miller
Miller with UNC Greensboro in 2018
Current position
TitleHead coach
TeamCincinnati
ConferenceBig 12
Record41–28 (.594)
Annual salary$1.25 million[1]
Biographical details
Born (1983-01-28) January 28, 1983
Greensboro, North Carolina, U.S.
Playing career
2002–2003James Madison
2004–2007North Carolina
2007–2008London Capital
Position(s)Point guard
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
2008–2009Elon (assistant)
2009–2010High Point (assistant)
2010–2011UNC Greensboro (assistant)
2011–2021UNC Greensboro
2021–presentCincinnati
Head coaching record
Overall226–163 (.581)
Tournaments0–2 (NCAA Division I)
3–2 (NIT)
1–1 (CBI)
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
As player:

NCAA champion (2005)
As coach:

2× SoCon tournament (2018, 2021)
3× SoCon regular season (2017, 2018, 2021)
SoCon North Division (2012)
Awards
2× SoCon Coach of the Year (2012, 2018)

Playing career

Miller attended New Hampton Prep in New Hampton, New Hampshire.[2] Miller played one year at James Madison before transferring to North Carolina to play for Roy Williams, where he successfully walked on to the basketball team.[3] He was redshirted for the 2003–2004 season. Miller played on the Tar Heel team that won the 2005 National Championship. He graduated in 2007 with a bachelor's degree in political science and after graduation he wrote a book titled The Road to Blue Heaven about his road to the University of North Carolina and his years playing there.[4] After graduation, Miller played one season for the London Capitals of the British Basketball League.[5]

Coaching career

Early career

After playing professionally in England for a year, Miller was hired as an assistant coach at Elon University to join the staff of head coach Ernie Nestor. Elon had a record of 12–19 in the 2008–2009 season and Nestor stepped down as head coach at the end of the year. Miller was hired at High Point University and joined the staff of their new head coach, Scott Cherry, the next season.[6]

UNC Greensboro

For the 2010-11 basketball season, Miller became an assistant coach at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro under Mike Dement. That team finished the season 7-24, in fifth place in the Southern Conference.

The next year Dement retired mid-season and Miller became interim head coach. At the time, the Spartans had a record of 2-8 and were in the midst of an eleven-game losing streak. Under Miller, the team finished Southern Conference play with a 10–8 record, 13-19 overall, winning first place in the Southern Conference North Division. Miller was named the 2012 Southern Conference Coach of the Year and was hired officially as head coach.[7]

Miller spent the following ten seasons as the UNCG men's basketball coach.[8] During his tenure UNCG saw an unprecedented run of success, reaching 25 wins for three successive seasons between 2016 and 2019, winning three Southern Conference championships, reaching the NCAA tournament in 2018 and 2021, and recording the program's first postseason victory in 2019. Miller is the winningest coach in UNC Greensboro history, with 185 victories.[9]

Cincinnati

On April 14, 2021 Cincinnati hired Miller to become their next head coach, replacing John Brannen.[10] He finished his first season leading the Bearcats to a 18-15 record, while going 7-11 in conference play. They placed 8th in the American Athletic Conference.

Personal

Miller's father, Kenneth D. Miller, is a prominent alumnus and trustee of Wake Forest University.[11] Wes's younger brother Walker Miller also played basketball for North Carolina before transferring to Monmouth for his final year of eligibility.[12]

College statistics
Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field goal percentage  3P%  3-point field goal percentage  FT%  Free throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2002–03 James Madison 30017.2.350.320.6001.01.30.50.04.1
2003–04 North Carolina Redshirt Redshirt
2004–05 North Carolina 2403.8.300.313.6920.20.50.00.01.1
2005–06 North Carolina 311622.9.438.441.7201.41.91.10.07.2
2006–07 North Carolina 38110.6.322.333.7330.51.10.30.02.5
Career 1231714.0.377.373.6980.81.30.50.03.8

Source[13]

Head coaching record
Statistics overview
Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
UNC Greensboro Spartans (Southern Conference) (2011–2021)
2011–12 UNC Greensboro 11–1110–51st (North)
2012–13 UNC Greensboro 9–226–126th (North)
2013–14 UNC Greensboro 14–187–96th
2014–15 UNC Greensboro 11–226–12T–7th
2015–16 UNC Greensboro 15–1910–8T–5thCBI Quarterfinals
2016–17 UNC Greensboro 25–1014–4T–1stNIT first round
2017–18 UNC Greensboro 27–815–31stNCAA Division I Round of 64
2018–19 UNC Greensboro 29–715–32ndNIT second round
2019–20 UNC Greensboro 23–913–53rd
2020–21 UNC Greensboro 21–913–51stNCAA Division I Round of 64
UNC Greensboro: 185–135 (.578)109–66 (.623)
Cincinnati Bearcats (American Athletic Conference) (2021–2023)
2021–22 Cincinnati 18–157–118th
2022–23 Cincinnati 23–1311–74thNIT Quarterfinals
Cincinnati Bearcats (Big 12 Conference) (2023–present)
2023–24 Cincinnati
Cincinnati: 41–28 (.594)18–18 (.500)
Total:226–163 (.581)

      National champion         Postseason invitational champion  
      Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
      Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion
      Conference tournament champion

References
  1. Williams, Justin [@Williams_Justin] (April 16, 2021). "Good Details on Wes Miller's new contract with #Bearcats: 6 yr, $7.875 million. Starts at $1.25mil, rising to $1.375mil by 2026. UC paid Miller's buyout of $325k to UNCG. Annual staff pool of $1.3mil. Buyout starts at $3mil, de-escalates to $750k by 2026. More soon on @TheAthletic" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  2. "Wes Miller - Men's Basketball". University of North Carolina Athletics. Retrieved 2023-03-17.
  3. "Wes Miller: A walk-on takes a big step with Tar Heels". ESPN. Retrieved March 6, 2015.
  4. "Wes Miller". UNCG. Archived from the original on September 19, 2018. Retrieved January 31, 2015.
  5. Martin, Ross (March 9, 2021). "Former Tar Heel Guard Wes Miller Leads UNCG Back to NCAA Tournament". 247Sports.com.
  6. Luck, Quierra (May 14, 2020). "Former Tar Heel Wes Miller Voted No. 1 Coach Under 40 by ESPN".
  7. "Wes Miller Named SoCon Coach of the Year". UNCG. Retrieved 19 October 2018.
  8. "UNCGSpartans.com : Wes Miller". www.uncgspartans.com. Archived from the original on 2010-12-02.
  9. Mills, Jeff (December 29, 2018). "UNCG runs winning streak to six in record-setting victory for coach Wes Miller". News & Record. Retrieved January 1, 2019.
  10. "Wes Miller Named Men's Basketball Head Coach". gobearcats.com. UC Athletics. 14 Apr 2021. Retrieved 14 Apr 2021.
  11. "Potential Wake Forest Basketball Hire: The Wes Miller Tier". 10 February 2019.
  12. "Walker Miller - Men's Basketball". University of North Carolina Athletics. University of North Carolina Athletics. Retrieved 5 April 2021.
  13. "Wes Miller Statistics". Sports Reference. 2011. Retrieved 29 December 2011.
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