A national search is underway to replace fired NC State coach Mark Gottfried, and the name already buzzing is Dayton’s Archie Miller.
Miller played point guard at NC State from 1998-2002 and later moved to the bench as an assistant for Herb Sendek. Miller is going to be one of the hottest names on this year’s coaching carousel and considered a potential candidate for several jobs. Since NC State is the first big job open, and there’s a personal history, Miller will be asked about his connection.
Shortly after NC State confirmed that Gottfried would be out after the season, Miller was being interviewed on NBC Sports Radio and denied any contact from NC State.
“No, that’s absolutely false, one hundred percent,” Miller said responding to reports that NC State had reached out regarding the job. “I haven’t heard from anyone from any university across the nation and I’m not expecting to hear from anyone anytime soon.”
Miller pivoted the focus to the job at hand with Dayton, chasing down an Atlantic 10 title a spot in the NCAA Tournament. The Flyers are currently in Jerry Palm’s projected field of 68 as an 8-seed and tracking toward a second straight regular-season conference title. The early timing of NC State’s dismissal makes Miller’s future plans -- a topic that was sure to surface in March -- of high interest here in mid-February.
NC State does get the chance to be the first school to start its search process, but since Gottfried is going to coach out the season and other coaches have their own teams to worry about it’s not likely we will see much movement for at least another month.
Gottfried is 122-82 (47-55 ACC) in six seasons NC State. After a 97-73 home loss to North Carolina on Tuesday, the Wolfpack are 14-13 (3-11 ACC) and have lost six straight. He made the NCAA Tournament in his first four years, reaching the Sweet 16 in 2012 and 2015. Last season, the Wolfpack went 16-17 (5-13 ACC).
