NCAAB notebook: Miller denies being Pitt candidate

[March 22, 2018]  Arizona coach Sean Miller reportedly spoke to Pittsburgh athletic director Heather Lyke about the school's head coach opening, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

But in a statement on Wednesday, Miller denied he's a candidate for the job.

"I am not a candidate for the University of Pittsburgh men's basketball head coaching vacancy. I wish them well in their search for a new coach," he said, per ESPN's Jeff Goodman.

Pittsburgh is looking to replace Kevin Stallings, who was fired after posting a 24-41 record in two seasons. Miller played point guard at Pitt from 1987-92 and is a Pennsylvania native. His Arizona Wildcats were eliminated by Buffalo in their NCAA Tournament opener last week, capping a tumultuous ending to the season.

--Louisville informed interim coach David Padgett that he will not be retained as the school's coach.

The school announced the decision one day after the Cardinals' season ended with a loss to Mississippi State in the NIT quarterfinals. Padgett, 33, coached Louisville to a 22-14 record after replacing fired Rick Pitino shortly before the start of the season.

"I don't live in a bubble," Padgett said at a news conference. "I know the chatter about what was going on. It wasn't a surprise. ... You know it's coming. Until you actually hear it, it's hard to set in. I'm going to walk out of this room and hold my head high because I gave this program and these players everything I had."

 

--Wichita State released star recruit Alex Lomax from his letter of intent, clearing the way for him to join Anfernee Hardaway with the Memphis Tigers.

Hardaway, who was introduced on Tuesday as the new head coach at Memphis, coached Lomax at East Memphis High School, where the pair recently won a third straight TSSAA Boys Basketball State Championship. Lomax, a point guard, was the MVP of that tournament for the second time and has twice been named Mr. Basketball in the state.

"Obviously, we take commitments to the Shocker program very seriously, but this is a very unique situation where a young man's mentor and coach since the fifth grade has become a Division I coach," Shockers coach Greg Marshall said. "Allowing him out of his NLI without any penalty is the right thing to do at this time."

--Field Level Media

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