Odds to Be Next Arizona Basketball Coach After Sean Miller Fired – Damon Stoudamire a Heavy Favorite

• Arizona fired Sean Miller after he had a 302-139 record in 12 seasons as its men’s basketball coach
• Pacific coach and former Arizona All-American guard Damon Stoudamire is favored to replace Miller
• A look at the odds for Stoudamire and other candidates can be found below

Sean Miller compiled a 302-109 record in 12 seasons as Arizona’s coach. He also led the Wildcats to seven NCAA Tournaments, five appearances in the Sweet 16 and three berths in the Elite Eight.

Yet that did not stop the university from firing Miller earlier this week following a 17-9 season in which Arizona had a self-imposed postseason ban in response to the NCAA’s rule infractions investigation that has lasted nearly four years.

Arizona has missed the each of the last two Big Dances, though, and was eliminated in the first round in 2018. Then there is that matter with the NCAA hanging over the program.

Nevertheless, there are plenty of candidates for the vacancy in Tucson.

Odds to Be Next Arizona Basketball Head Coach

Odds as of April 9th

Fan Favorite is the Favorite

Pacific coach and former Arizona All-American Damon Stoudamire is the favorite to replace Miller. Hiring Stoudamire makes sense on many levels.

Stoudamire, most importantly, he has proven to be a good coach during his five seasons at Pacific. He led the Tigers from 11 wins in 2016-17 to 14 in each of the next two seasons before the program broke through with a 23-10 record in the 2019-20.

UNLV 35 – Pacific 29 at the Half

Coach Damon Stoudamire is not to happy! pic.twitter.com/KDd5FU2HhP

— Vegas Sports Today (@VegasSportsTD) December 19, 2019

Though Pacific slipped to 9-9 in the just-completed season affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, the .500 record did nothing to diminish Stoudamire’s reputation. His overall record is 71-77.

Hiring Stoudamire would also likely be a big hit with the alumni and fans. In four seasons with the Wildcats from 1991-95, he had 1,849 points and 663 assists and was a consensus All-America selection as a senior.

The Gonzaga Factor

One name getting a lot of play in the rumor mill is Gonzaga assistant coach Tommy Lloyd.

As Mark Few’s right-hand man, Lloyd has been a big reason for Gonzaga’s sustained success. The Bulldogs just completed a 31-1 season that ended a loss short of perfection when they were beaten by Baylor in the national championship game.

Meet Tommy Lloyd: International recruiting extraordinaire, Mark Few's chief lieutenant and a man who's played a significant role in each step of Gonzaga's evolution to national power, @GregBishopSI writes https://t.co/MbcEfDmQWA

— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) April 2, 2021

Lloyd is considered one of the top international recruiters in the business. That could come in handy in helping persuade some of Arizona’s current players to stay in the program. The Wildcats’ roster included seven foreign-born players in 2020-21.

The word in college basketball circles is that Lloyd would only leave Spokane for a plum job. Despite the recent problems, Arizona is still considered a plum job, certainly at least in the West.

And Lloyd’s son, Liam, plays college ball at Grand Canyon in Phoenix.

The Alumni Group

Like Stoudamire, the foursome of Mike Simon, Luke Walton, Jason Terry and Josh Pastner are former Arizona players.

Simon is currently an assistant coach with the Los Angeles Lakers and Walton is the head coach of the Sacramento Kings. Terry is on Arizona’s staff as an assistant. Pastner guided Georgia Tech to the NCAA Tournament this year.

If Arizona decides to stay within the college head coaching ranks, then Pastner should be a serious candidate. He has a 249-149 record in 12 seasons at Memphis and Georgia Tech.

Josh Pastner may mess around and win Football guy of the week with this move https://t.co/cilg8BoiFR

— Big Cat (@BarstoolBigCat) December 10, 2020

A recent trend in college basketball is hiring coaches with NBA experience. The thinking goes that players want coaches who can help them develop their skills for the next level.

That would aid Simon and Walton – if he is willing to walk away from a head coaching position. And Terry had a 19-year career as an NBA player before retiring following the 2017-18 season.

The ultimate fantasy for Arizona fans is the school luring Steve Kerr to his alma mater from the Golden State Warriors. However, that is so unlikely that there aren’t odds on Kerr.

Eyeing Other School’s Coaches

Three current college head coaches could also be in the mix, according to the oddsmakers. They are BYU’s Mark Pope, Arkansas’ Eric Musselman and Baylor’s Scott Drew.

Drew seems like a longshot to walk away from Baylor right after winning a national title. However, Pope and Musselman might be persuaded to leave their current jobs.

Eric Musselman is PUMPED about his team advancing pic.twitter.com/bhoKDZTNLp

— CBS Sports (@CBSSports) March 22, 2021

Pope is a West Coast guy, a native of Bellevue, Wash. Musselman is not necessarily wedded to the Razorbacks after just two seasons in Fayetteville and he was an assistant under Miller while making the transition from NBA to college coach.

Who Gets the Gig?

Stoudamire seems the most logical choice for the job, though there isn’t much value in betting him at +150.

Looking further down the board, Walton is an intriguing choice at +600. Though most coaches would never leave an NBA head coaching gig for a college one.

Walton claims he has no interest.

Sacramento Kings coach Luke Walton, following a rare practice day with his team, says he has "no interest" in the head coaching job with his alma mater Arizona Wildcats.

FULL VIDEO: https://t.co/AuZVFMDH3b pic.twitter.com/c8qGqIaQ6M

— Sean Cunningham (@SeanCunningham) April 8, 2021

But…Walton doesn’t have great job security in Sacramento. The Kings are 22-30 and 12^th in the Western Conference.

Arizona is also Walton’s alma mater and that certainly could tug at his heartstrings regardless of what he is saying publicly.