UNCG's Wes Miller to Be Hired as Cincinnati HC After John Brannen Firing

UNC Greensboro coach Wes Miller will take over as the head coach of the men's basketball program at Cincinnati, the school announced Wednesday.

Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports reported the news earlier in the day. 

He will take over for head coach John Brannen, who was fired last Friday following an investigation that occurred when six players transferred away from the program in March. 

Of the six players who entered the transfer portal, four of them were freshmen in 2020. 

Justin Williams of The Athletic said the mass exodus in the program was "tied to a rift between those players and [Brannen]," and Matt Norlander of CBS Sports said Brannen and Cincinnati athletic director John Cunningham hadn't "been on speaking terms for weeks." 

Brannen's tenure in Cincinnati was brief—he took over in April 2019 following Mick Cronin's hire at UCLA. Through two seasons, Brannen amassed a 32-21 record with an AAC regular-season title in 2019-20. 

Miller, on the other hand, was installed at UNCG 10 seasons ago, posting a 185-135 record. He is fresh off of his second NCAA tournament appearance in three seasons, as the No. 13 Spartans fell in the opening round to Florida State.

According to Norlander, the 38-year-old was also a finalist for the opening at North Carolina, where he played from 2004-07. 

Miller will inherit a program that went 12-11 over the past year.