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Archie Miller Agrees to Contract with Indiana to Replace Tom Crean
The Indiana Hoosiers agreed to hire the Dayton Flyers' Archie Miller to fill their vacant head coaching position, the program announced Saturday.
The Vertical's Adrian Wojnarowski first reported the two sides were engaged in serious talks, and he added they were finalizing a seven-year pact.
The deal is worth over $3 million per season, according to Evan Daniels of Scout.com.
"I am honored to be the head coach at Indiana University," Miller said, per a news release. "IU is one of the greatest basketball programs and academic institutions in the country, and I cannot wait to get started."
Word of Miller's agreement came hours after UCLA boss and Indiana alum Steve Alford told ESPN.com's Jeff Goodman he was "100 percent" not going to leave the Bruins for the Hoosiers.
Meanwhile, ESPN's Fran Fraschilla noted Miller followed a similar path as his brother, Sean Miller, who coached the Xavier Musketeers for five years before he bolted for the Arizona Wildcats in 2009:
USA Today's Nicole Auerbach was also a fan of the move:
It's not hard to see why Indiana's hire has been met with near-universal praise.
The 38-year-old Miller compiled a 139-63 record in six seasons at Dayton, and he led the Flyers to each of the last four NCAA tournaments—including a run to the 2014 Elite Eight.
Dayton then won First Four and round of 64 games in the 2015 Big Dance before it was dispatched as a No. 7 seed in the round of 64 in each of the past two tournaments.
Miller will now look to revive a program that finished 18-16 and missed the NCAA tournament this season.
Potential improvements figure to start on the defensive end, where the Hoosiers ranked 105th in KenPom.com's adjusted efficiency. Conversely, the Flyers ranked 41st overall in the same metric during the 2016-17 campaign.
In other words, expect changes as Indiana embarks on what it hopes will be a prosperous new era.