With success there comes disappointment, and for the Arizona Wildcats, that could come in the form of losing head coach Sean Miller to the Maryland Terrapins.
Multiple media outlets, including the Washington Post, are reporting that there is "mutual interest between Miller and Maryland AD Kevin Anderson. After announcing the retirement of famed head coach Gary Williams just a few days ago, Anderson has apparently been fast to find a replacement for the ACC school's basketball program.
The Baltimore Sun talked with those on the East Coast recruiting front, and the vibe over there is it's certainly a possibility that Miller leaves Tucson.
"He nearly got one of the top players in the country being almost 3,000 miles away. I can't imagine what he would do if he was at Maryland," Damon Handon, one of recruit Quinn Cook's coaches on D.C. Assault, told the Baltimore newspaper.
Bruce Pascoe of the Daily Star said that Arizona AD Greg Byrne had no comment regarding Miller's status on Friday and said Miller is in Tucson while hosting recruits Shabazz Muhammad, a 2012 recruit and Chris Thomas, a 2013 guard recruit.
What's a little scary on the Zona front is that it wasn't long ago that Miller was quick to squash rumors of him returning to N.C. State, where he served as an assistant.
Still, it was widely believed that Miller does indeed have interest in Maryland, at least as far as the Twittersphere goes. Jeff Goodman of FoxSports.com tweeted at Dick Vitale this:
Wouldn't completely discount the possibility of Sean Miller leaving for Maryland. Not saying it would definitely happen, but ....
Meanwhile, Paola Boivin of the Arizona Republic had a lighter, yet scary, observation of a Tweet by Miller's wife, Amy.
Sean Miller's wife Amy tweeted about allergies"Might have to head back east or to west..just away from desert. Shots can't help soon enough"
Apparently, the Post's sources say Anderson will travel to Arizona following the honoring of Williams, today. Boivin pointed out that while some of these things get misreported, the fact that such a heralded paper is reporting this all means there's something to it.
Still, let's consider the options Miller has -- he's just gotten Arizona off the ground and has a beastly recruiting class coming in. Sure, he's more of an East Coast guy and the ability to recruit guys out of the New York area could be tempting. But he's gotten those players out to Arizona despite the distance, and from what we know about Miller, he's a honorable enough person with a lot of loyalty (remember how hard it was to pull him from little ol' Xavier?).
Plus, Byrne has a contract extension in the works, according to Pascoe.
The most interesting thing to this, for me, is how people react if he decides to leave. Riots in the streets of Tucson?