Photo credit: Charlotte Athletics

Charlotte's newly minted Director of Athletics, Kevin White has not wasted any time in filling the Charlotte 49ers Men's Basketball vacancy. White was formally hired on February 23rd. Aaron Fearne was fired on March 17th, and 6 days later, the program announces Wes Miller has been tabbed as the next head coach. I don't know about you, but I'm not used to these quick/efficient searches, so kudos to all involved to strike quickly and grab an experienced HC with a proven pedigree at the mid-major level, and a history of damn good defense. Bonus, Charlotte appears to be moving on from methodical pace of play (THANK YOU NORMBOT IN THE SKY). While it won't be a run-n-gun style, the pace will be noticeably quicker. Wes Miller's Adjusted Tempo (Barttorvik.com) through 14 seasons is 167th overall. During Aaron Fearn's tenure, it was 337th. Can't wait.

You might ask about Wes Miller and his 5-year tenure at Cincinnati and their decision to move on. Miller went 100-74 in his time with the Bearcats, and finished out this year at 18-15, with a 9-9 record in the Big 12. While I don't pretend to be fully dialed in on the Bearcats, 9-9 in the Big 12 isn't easy, but I know not dancing at Cincinnati after 5 years is a reason to move on. It's also worth noting he took over the reigns at a low point in time for the Bearcats. I referenced Barttorvik.com earlier, it's my go-to for metrics, so lets look at some metrics from Wes Miller teams over the last 10 years. While we're at it, lets compare those to Charlotte in the same time span. Before I dive into that, I'll be transparent. At first I was not interested in Wes Miller, but he's had plenty of time to learn his identity as a coach and how to approach it. His first few years at UNCG were rough, but then it clicked. In his first 4 seasons he averaged 9.5 wins, and in the next 10 years (UNCG and Cincinnati) he's averaged 22.5.

As I mentioned, Miller has found his identity as a HC, and it's defense. In his time at Cincinnati, his Adjusted Defense grade was 10th in the country in his final season, and has been top 100 the last 9 years. Barttorvik.com only goes back to 2008, in those 18 seasons Charlotte has had a top 100 defense just 4 times. Ron Sanchez had 1 in 2020 (88th(, Alan Major in 2012 & 2013 (91st & 85th), then Bobby Lutz in 2008 at 42nd. Show me the offense you say? Durint the Fearne/Sanchez era, Charlotte's Adjusted Offense had an average ranking of 189th, while Miller's over that time averaged 119th. Miller's Bearcats teams produced 3 top-100 offenses, and Charlotte last had that in Ryan Odom's interim season (2015).

The data below shows you Miller's history and a shot of that from Charlotte's available history dating back to 2008. Per the metrics, there are many things to like, and see that Miller has done well that Charlotte's struggled with. It should be a better brand of basketball in Halton next season. Charlotte and Kevin White just need to make sure we're increasing our NIL to be more competitive, hopefully we're get more details of Ric Elias (Red Ventures CEO, who is a hoops junkie) NIL contributions. Those could be a gamechanger. Not to be overlooked, USF is changing coaches again. Memphis is an enigma with Penny, resources are aplenty, but his assistances look like the gif of the Simpson's grandfather coming in and out of the door. The NIL-era of hoops yields opportunities for immediate turnarounds, so there is great reason for Charlotte fans to be existed for this what could lie ahead of us this fall in Halton Arena.

Wes Miller coaching history

Charlotte Basketball history

I'm going jump back into season tickets in Halton, are you? Hit me with your thoughts below in the comments.