This former Arizona player is the favorite to replace Sean Miller
Arizona on Wednesday fired Sean Miller after 12 seasons as their head coach. The Wildcats became a power under the late legend Lute Olson and continued a good deal of that success under Miller. They will aim to reclaim their top team status in the Pac-12 under their next head coach.
So whom will they look to hire?
The betting odds from MyBookie favor a familiar name: Damon Stoudamire. Former Arizona player Josh Pastner is also among the betting favorites for the job, while former Wildcats Luke Walton and Miles Simon are also on the list.
Here are the odds:
Damon Stoudamire +200
Tommy Floyd +250
Josh Pastner +400
Scott Drew +500
Miles Simon +900
Luke Walton +1200
Mark Pope +1200
Greg McDermott +1500
Archie Miller +2000
Eric Musselman +2000
Matt Brase +2200
Joseph Blair +2400
Stoudamire played at Arizona from 1992-1995 before going on to enjoy an NBA career. He has been the head coach at Pacific the last five seasons. His 71-77 record would not impress anyone, but Pacific was 8-20 before he took over. In his fourth season, he had them at 23-10, though they went 9-9 last season.
Pastner played at Arizona from 1997-2000. He replaced John Calipari at Memphis and coached them for seven seasons. He has coached Georgia Tech for five seasons. Two of the five seasons at Georgia Tech were losing years, but the program went 17-9 this season and made the NCAA Tournament under him for the first time.
Simon has served as an assistant coach at Arizona in the past and is currently an assistant with the Lakers. Walton is the head coach of the Sacramento Kings.
If Arizona decides to look outside their program to fill the position, they appear to have someone in mind.
