Wes Miller on Cincinnati's struggles: 'It's not okay, there's no excuse'
After Cincinnati’s 59-54 home loss to West Virginia on Wednesday night, head coach Wes Miller approached a group of fans in the tunnel.
“You guys deserve to be frustrated,” Miller said. “It ain’t okay. I understand the responsibilities of this job. These results ain’t okay. You guys deserve to be frustrated, but I’m a human too and nobody’s more frustrated than I. Trust me, I care deeply about Cincinnati.”
In Wednesday’s loss, it was all square at 46-46 with 6:12 to play, but the Bearcats mustered just two field goals down the stretch to eventually fall.
Cincinnati is now 11-12, 3-7 in the Big 12. The Bearcats were picked eighth preseason but are currently tied for 11th. And it looks like Miller, in his fifth year at the helm, will miss the NCAA Tournament once again.
Miller had a message to Cincinnati fans on postgame radio as well:
“To everybody that’s listening, everybody deserves to be frustrated with us and with me,” Miller said. “And it ain’t okay to me. I’m sorry. It’s not okay. There’s no excuse. So I’m sorry to people out there. We have to finish games. That’s the responsibility of coaching at this program, and I’m really sorry. I promise everybody out there, you deserve to be frustrated, say what you say or whatever. You deserve it.
“I promise you I’m giving every part of my soul to this thing, and I care deeply about this program. It ain’t okay. So I don’t want anybody to think I think it’s okay. It’s not. And people deserve to be frustrated. Nobody is more frustrated with the results than I.”
Miller came to Cincinnati after 10 successful years as the head coach of UNC Greensboro, where he had an overall record of 185-135, won four SoCon regular season titles and made the Big Dance twice. At Cincinnati, Miller is 93-71 overall and 17-31 in Big 12 play.
“Tomorrow I will wake up and fight,” Miller said. “I believe in what we’re doing and the players we have here in this program. This is what basketball has taught me: to be a strong-minded individual who will fight to get the results. I’m going to wake up tomorrow and fight. We are going to come and fight, I will tell you that.”
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