You mean the same athletic department that targeted Cal before Miller and essentially had talked him into coming? For all the talk about Cal's cheating he has never been in trouble with the NCAA (he was cleared in the Derrick Rose and Marcus Camby situations) and manages to find his team in the top 10 just about every season. Is he a slimeball? Yeah, but so are a lot of successful college coaches.
And while we're on the subject of Cal, let's also not forget that Sean Miller looks up to him as a coach and he had a big hand in convincing Miller to take this job. All we've got so far from Sean Miller is 16-15, a great 2009 class, and thus far an underwhelming 2010 class. He still hasn't even landed a capable true PG. He'll be fine but he's not even close to Cal.
As far as anyone who wants Cal over Miller? That's easy. The UofA athletic department for starters as he was their #1 choice for head coach after Lute retired not to mention all the Arizona fans who endured a 16-15 season instead of the Pac-10 champion and top 10 team Arizona would've been had the UK job not opened up.
This is honestly ridiculous. Everything points to Sean Miller becoming a great coach and UA doing big things sooner rather than later, however he hasn't done it yet whereas Cal has everywhere he's been.
This is a very good argument but I am taking the potential of Miller rather then the "proven" of Cal.
For all the talent Calipari has accrued, he has never won anything of consequence and choked up this year with inarguably the most talented team in the country. That was one of my biggest concerns when I knew Cal was at the top of the list. He isn't half the coach Miller is, with the talent they have had comparatively. Before you say Arizona and the AD would have been ecstatic to lose in the Sweet 16 this year after being #1 in the country and kept the streak in tact, maybe so but at the risk of starting in the same place again the very next year? Brandin Knight is nutso good but he isn't John Wall by a mile. You can expect Kentucky to be in the back fringe of the Top 25 next year.
I am hoping UA is in that same position next year and its not inconceivable with improvement from Williams and Momo that we would be in a better Future situation.
I guess alot has to happen to say that but another knock on Cal is his average stay at each spot. He recruits and wins but hes gone like Keiser Sose after 5 years and each time the team he left, there was scorched earth in his wake.
Conversely I liken Miller to a Tom Izzo type, who may never recruit like Calipari, but is able to coach the top tier talent he will get with the Arizona brand alone to success.
Does it have to happen first? Absolutely.
But can I knowingly take Miller's "potential" at building a program over the long haul opposed to Cal's "proven record" of bring shooting star in the night that invariably burns out after 5-6 years? Yes I can.
I know Cal was the first choice this past summer and understandably so.
But sometimes a College Program falls into Pete Carroll too.
