Arizona coach Sean Miller is a fan of ASU’s win over Kansas
Dec 13, 2017, 1:22 PM | Updated: 2:22 pm
Sean Miller complimented ASU being No. 5 in the latest AP poll and says Hurley is a strong candidate for national coach of the year. Dec. 30 can’t get here soon enough. pic.twitter.com/BXLEOHRPsG
— Justin Spears (@JustinESports) December 13, 2017
With a win over then-No. 2 Kansas, the Arizona State basketball team captured the attention of objective journalists.
It probably got more casual Sun Devil fans on the bandwagon, if they weren’t already. And certainly, it fired up those fans waiting for the breakout moment in the third year of coach Bobby Hurley’s tenure.
Turns out, there’s a fan of ASU’s upset who comes from outside the program.
“There couldn’t be a better moment for the Pac-12 than ASU’s win over Kansas,” said Arizona Wildcats coach Sean Miller on Wednesday. “It gives our conference credibility.”
Miller spoke to the Tucson media with three games left and more than two weeks remaining before his team opens Pac-12 play against the current No. 5 Sun Devils in McKale Center. He’s not looking ahead so much as respecting what Arizona State has done.
And yes, there are reasons the Wildcats are rooting for their rivals.
“When you have an RPI as high as they have, you’re ranked as high as they are, it’s like a balloon. It pulls everybody else up in the league,” Miller said. “It gives our conference a chance maybe to add that one extra team in March that we otherwise wouldn’t be able to get. It helps us — it really does — because we play ASU twice.
“Bobby Hurley, he’s en route right now to be one of the coaches talked about for national coach of the year because of what he’s done with their program. He’s played a tough nonconference schedule. It shows some guts to play who they play,” Miller added. “Their results speak really clearly. They might be underrated where they’re at right now.”
