Side note, but as someone who attended a big state school for college and got my MBA at a smaller private school, there really is no comparing those types of schools on a fair basis. State schools have like this weird social contract with you where in turn for getting the recognition/status that comes with that diploma (i.e., they are all usually ranked higher than smaller private schools on average, with exceptions for the elite private ones), you are left to fend for yourself, lol. Granted it was for an MBA program and not undergrad, but the support I received at a private school was just in another stratosphere. Even if I wanted to compare strictly undergrad, my sister went to Butler and our college experiences could not have been more different ... two different universes. That is why I think it's funny when someone who went to a private school acts like they got this superior education strictly because it's private OR someone who went to a public school acts superior because their alma mater always ranks higher in things like US News. They're just not comparable, haha.
Anyway, that list is very interesting but not surprising. I feel like if I were a coach like Miller, my list would look similar, and one of the most interesting things to navigate (IMO) would be balancing a school/fan base that is passionate about hoops (e.g., it would kind of suck to be at Ohio State where even their good teams are getting crappy fan support) vs. a school whose expectations are just ridiculous and unrealistic (e.g., Indiana fans unreasonably expect Kansas-esque results and will run you out of town, even though in our modern era no recruit has grown up thinking of IU that way outside of small town Indiana). Personally, this would be my short list if I were some elite coach based on what I understand about the potential, location/recruiting, facilities, money/NIL, fan support, etc.:
- Illinois
- Kansas
- Texas
- Tennessee
- Wisconsin
- Arizona
- Florida
- Villanova
- Oregon
- Miami (FL)
"Great jobs" that I personally wouldn't take include the following...
- Indiana ... Like I said, insane fans. No thanks.
- Maryland ... Historical success similar to Illinois (or even worse depending on the metric), yet it seems their fans are nastier and more entitled.
- Ohio State/Michigan ... I personally think it would be annoying always being second fiddle.
- Michigan State/Duke ... No thanks to following the only coach anyone alive has ever seen have ridiculous success there.
- UCLA ... It literally seems like they have the worst possible combination of fan apathy and yet intense fan expectations, haha.
- Syracuse ... Similar to MSU/Duke with replacing a legend, but I also just think the Carrier Dome is perhaps the ugliest and most overrated arena in the nation, haha.
Jobs that people probably think are good but I maintain are an absolute trap include...
- Purdue ... I will die on this hill, but the success coaches have had at Purdue speaks to their incredible skill, not the job's ceiling. Second fiddle in a medium size state. Also, apparently their NIL is bad.
- Texas A&M ... Should be a sleeping giant, but you'd get the toxic combination of crazy donors AND playing second fiddle.
And lastly some jobs that I probably wouldn't take but are like Illini football in that there is just literally no reason they should be this bad ... and someone will come along to change that within 20 years:
- Georgia ... You heard it here first, Georgia basketball will realize its potential within two decades. They should be at least Tournament level every year based on resources.
- Missouri ... Pains me to say it, but they seem to have a relatively rare combination of good instate recruiting/population AND pretty good instate loyalty to Mizzou.
- Rutgers ... I am sorry, but it is true! The right recruiter at Rutgers can get it going.
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