Found this article while researching the Class of 2010 post and Arizona's highest rated recruit from that year:

http://www.coloradoan.com/article/20130209/SPORTS0202/302090025/Finding-perfect-fit-Daniel-Bejarano-s-journey-Colorado-State

"The loss of his father meant there was no way he was leaving the state of Arizona for college, opening the door for the Wildcats to sign their first local product since 2008.

The day after Bejarano dropped his verbal commitment to Texas, University of Arizona coach Sean Miller arrived in his family's living room to put everyone on board with Bejarano being a Wildcat.

All because of one well-crafted pitch that Butler feels took advantage of her vulnerable son.

"Sean Miller told my son he'd be a father figure to him," she said.

Bejarano knew what family meant. What he experienced in Tucson, Ariz., wasn't anything close not even a variation of tough love. Eventually he had to escape...

There was a desire to improve, but, according to Bejarano, Miller didn't care about developing players, he wanted the instant gratification of winning. The Phoenix native scored only six points in 30 minutes as a freshman and played in just three Pacific 12 games with Miller often not speaking to him during stretches of the season.

Butler said her son wanted to leave school in December of 2010, but she reminded him about integrity. They had made a commitment to Arizona, so he agreed to finish out the year. But when the season ended with a run to the Elite Eight, Bejarano wanted to stick around and prove he belonged with the team that recruited him since he was a freshman in high school.

A series of closed-door meetings changed everything.

Bejarano took a deep breath and closed his eyes. The memory replayed on the back of his eyelids. He recalled Miller telling him he would never play Division I basketball again, using inappropriate language with Bejarano's mother and yelling at his AAU coach.

Bejarano said. "I'll give credit where it's due he's a good coach. I'm not going to just trash him because I transferred, I just think he cares more about money than getting players better."


"After I transferred, (legendary Arizona basketball coach) Lute Olson said if he were still there, I'd be playing. That was a huge motivation for me.

Absolutely Miller is a Jerk. My take away, however, is to look on the good side and say "way to go, young man" for his success at CSU. I think Miller (and Howland) work for some kids but they are in the minority. Sadly, most 5 stars do not see things that way.

I was initially frustrated that Monty came in slightly before miller, and with a bigger name, and immediately was getting outrecruited. Now that Monty has been finishing above Arizona in the standings with the fruits of each coach's labors, I am not so frustrated.
What a run to take second this year.
Same as last year, no?
Champs 2 yrs before that.
The man can develop players, coach, and win.
Shocky's consistent notes about scholars is great, too.

There are two sides to every story. I mean a guy like Ryan Mendez trashed Monty worse than Sean Miller, yet we love Monty. I'm not saying Sean Miller is a good guy or bad guy. I don't know him. So all these stories are nothing more than hearsay -- you can believe them, and believe how they are framed, as per your discretion on how you assess the credibility. But it's not necessarily what is really going on. Human relations is a hard thing. Ask Gabe King -- supposedly Pendergast didn't say a word to him the last 3 years.

There are stories like this about literally every coach in every sport at every level. Doesn't mean Miller isn't a jerk (Calipari is his cousin), but I doubt Bejarano would have said what he said if he had been playing.

tsubamoto2001;842097166 said:

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There are stories like this about literally every coach in every sport at every level. Doesn't mean Miller isn't a jerk (Calipari is his cousin), but I doubt Bejarano would have said what he said if he had been playing.

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I agree in general, but if he actually made that pitch to a kid that had recently lost his father and then made no effort to live up to it, PT or no PT, he's a jerk.

I've always thought he acted like one, but that hardly puts him in select company.

KoreAmBear;842097154 said:

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There are two sides to every story. I mean a guy like Ryan Mendez trashed Monty worse than Sean Miller, yet we love Monty. I'm not saying Sean Miller is a good guy or bad guy. I don't know him. So all these stories are nothing more than hearsay -- you can believe them, and believe how they are framed, as per your discretion on how you assess the credibility. But it's not necessarily what is really going on. Human relations is a hard thing. Ask Gabe King -- supposedly Pendergast didn't say a word to him the last 3 years.

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...and if someone started a thread titled "Clancy Pendergast is a jerk", most people would probably agree with the sentiment. Or at least they wouldn't be surprised

KoreAmBear;842097154 said:

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There are two sides to every story. I mean a guy like Ryan Mendez trashed Monty worse than Sean Miller, yet we love Monty. I'm not saying Sean Miller is a good guy or bad guy. I don't know him. So all these stories are nothing more than hearsay -- you can believe them, and believe how they are framed, as per your discretion on how you assess the credibility. But it's not necessarily what is really going on. Human relations is a hard thing. Ask Gabe King -- supposedly Pendergast didn't say a word to him the last 3 years.

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My understanding of Mendez trashing Monty isn't for anything that happened during his playing days, but a belief that Monty sold Stanford that he might return if they let Trent Johnson go.

The one thing I've noticed about Monty is that he doesn't sugarcoat things. He's blunt in his assessment of just about anything. He might come across as a little bit brusque at times, but that's just him. I can't imagine he would lie to a recruit just to persuade him to sign.

BearClause;842097264 said:

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My understanding of Mendez trashing Monty isn't for anything that happened during his playing days, but a belief that Monty sold Stanford that he might return if they let Trent Johnson go.

The one thing I've noticed about Monty is that he doesn't sugarcoat things. He's blunt in his assessment of just about anything. He might come across as a little bit brusque at times, but that's just him. I can't imagine he would lie to a recruit just to persuade him to sign.

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OK I don't want this to be about Monty-bashing, but Mendez mentioned that Monty didn't let the kids wear Nike, even though everyone wanted to, because he sold out to Adidas or something. I know, Monty is such a criminal. Anyway, my point is that people have grudges, especially when things don't go as expected for them. That doesn't mean a coach is a bad guy.

tsubamoto2001;842097166 said:

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There are stories like this about literally every coach in every sport at every level. Doesn't mean Miller isn't a jerk (Calipari is his cousin), but I doubt Bejarano would have said what he said if he had been playing.

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That first sentence is kind of ridiculous when you think about it. Can you post a link to even one story about a division one basketball coach as harsh as that?

No the article doesn't mean he's a jerk. I thought he was a jerk long before reading the article. The article supports my feelings, which were based on the way he came across in interviews and on how many of his players have transferred out.

If Bejarano had been playing, Miller probably wouldn't have been such a jerk to him... and his mother... and his AAU coach. I suspect Miller was especially jerky towards Bejarano because he wanted to pressure him out to free up the scholarship... which also makes him a jerk.

KoreAmBear;842097154 said:

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There are two sides to every story. I mean a guy like Ryan Mendez trashed Monty worse than Sean Miller, yet we love Monty. I'm not saying Sean Miller is a good guy or bad guy. I don't know him. So all these stories are nothing more than hearsay -- you can believe them, and believe how they are framed, as per your discretion on how you assess the credibility. But it's not necessarily what is really going on. Human relations is a hard thing. Ask Gabe King -- supposedly Pendergast didn't say a word to him the last 3 years.

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I just went back and read that piece. What an idiot Ryan Mendez is. Far, far worse than Sean Miller! I suspect he's on drugs.

tsubamoto2001;842097166 said:

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There are stories like this about literally every coach in every sport at every level. Doesn't mean Miller isn't a jerk (Calipari is his cousin), but I doubt Bejarano would have said what he said if he had been playing.

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Miller and Calipari are not actually cousins. They are not blood relatives, but almost every time University of Memphis coach John Calipari talks about Sean Miller, he refers to him as his cousin.

They both grew up in Pittsburgh, PA
Coach Calipari born February 10, 1959
Coach Sean Miller born November 17, 1968

Coach Cal: From 1985 to 1988, he was an assistant coach at the University of Pittsburgh under Paul Evans.
Coach Sean Miller: Miller played at Pitt from 1987-1992, recruited by Coach Cal.

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Sean Miller's father, famous father of Blackhawk High hoops, used to toil as an assistant to Bill Sacco at Moon High School. Their ballboy? Little Johnny Calipari, who hung out at Grandma Miller's house. The ballboy, for a Tigers team that included Bob Davie (all this coaching karma), grew into a guard and a Clarion player and an assistant coach Cal.

Assistant coach Cal of Pitt recruits Sean Miller, firstborn of then-Blackhawk coach John Miller.

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Interestingly, Sean's Dad John Miller also refers to Cal as a cousin:
http://www.drill4skill.com/dfs/resume/


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Sean Miller's father, John Miller, is a legendary high school coach in the Pittsburgh area, and their families became intertwined in ways that would take Calipari several minutes to fully explain. That he ultimately recruited Miller to the University of Pittsburgh was almost incidental to their relationship.

"His uncle and I were teammates, and I spent as much time in his grandmother's house as I did my own house," Calipari said. "My high school coach and (John Miller) were teammates, and he coached me in the summer. We're family."