It has been a difficult season for Sean Miller as reports continue to link him to an ongoing FBI investigation. Sean has denied reports that he has broken any NCAA regulations. His wife, Amy Miller, has been with Sean all over the country as he rose up the college basketball coaching ranks. Prior to Arizona, Sean had coaching positions at Xavier, Pittsburgh, NC State, Miami of Ohio and Wisconsin.
The demands of the profession can be taxing on a coach’s family, but Amy seems to have a sense of humor about it calling herself a “basketball widow” thanks to Sean’s busy schedule. Sean grew up the son of a basketball coach, and has shared the game with his family. The couple’s oldest son Austin served as the Arizona basketball team manager through 2018 when he graduated. Their middle child, Cameron, started working with the team in 2017.
Learn more about Sean’s wife, Amy, and his family.
1. Amy Shows Her Sense of Humor by Using the Term “Basketball Widow” in Her Email Address & Twitter Handle
According to USA Today, Amy often refers to herself as a “basketball widow”, a nod to her husband’s busy coaching schedule. She first claimed it as her email address then made @abballwidow her Twitter handle. Amy now appears to have stepped away from Twitter, but spoke to USA Today about the life of a coach’s wife.
“Sean was never home,” Amy told USA Today. “I was like a widow by myself all the time…Recruiting is crazy, and it’s also the time spent in the office. It’s easier now because our kids are older. I just worry about me now.”
Sean credits his wife for having a sense of humor about their challenging schedule.
“One thing I give her credit for — that was when it was like, ‘What is this whole computer thing?’ That was her initial email address, and she’s never changed it,” Sean told USA Today. “It would be one thing if she just did it, like, three years ago, but she almost understood it before it happened.”
2. The Couple Has 3 Children: Austin, Cameron & Braden
Sean Miller on his son, Austin, being honored on Senior Day and his progress over 4 years:
According to Arizona Athletics, the couple has three children: Austin, Cameron and Braden. Austin was honored as part of Arizona’s 2018 senior night as the Wildcats team manager. Sean spoke with the Wildcaster about watching his son go through college as part of the team.
“I’m proud of him, and I love him to death,” Sean told The Wildcaster. “He’s been on that wall every press conference for four years. Being a manager, you can make the argument, that it prepares you for life better than anything because it is behind the scenes and you don’t get a lot of credit. But you’re incredibly important.”
Austin’s younger brother Cameron is also an Arizona team manager.
3. The Couple’s Son, Cameron, Turned Down an Offer to Play at Youngstown State to Be the Arizona Team Manager
According to SB Nation, Cameron turned down a scholarship offer to play at Youngstown State to be the Arizona team manager under his father. Sean spoke with Tucson.com about his son’s decision not to play college basketball.
“He could have played at a lot of different levels,” Sean told Tucson.com. “But when he took the big picture and thought about actually going to school at these places, and what he really wanted to do when his time ended in college I think he wanted to come to Arizona.”
Cameron spoke with AZCentral.com about what advice his father would give him when he was playing high school basketball.
“He gives me little things to work on that I feel that nobody else can tell me,” Cameron told AZCentral.com. “He gives me more perspective. If I had a rough game, he gives me advice.”
According to Max Preps, Cameron averaged 11.7 points, 3.8 assists, 2.5 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game during his high school basketball career at Salpointe Catholic High School.
4. When Sean Was Considering Taking the Maryland Job, Some Fans Speculated Amy Did Not Like Living in Tucson
Amy found herself at the center of the craziness of college athletics in 2011 when her husband was considering an opening at Maryland. After Amy tweeted about having bad allergies, some fans took it as a sign that Sean was leaving Arizona.
According to AZCentral.com, Amy tweeted she was “allergic to everything in the desert! Doc can’t believe it. Where can I hide?” Like Sean, Amy is an East Coast native, but explained to Desert Leaf that her comments were misconstrued.
“I’ve been accused of not liking Tucson,” Amy told Desert Leaf (via ESPN). “Which is the furthest from the truth. It’s been a transition. It’s letting go of where you were and…integrating yourself into the community and the culture.”
Sean did not end up taking the Maryland job, and the family still lives in Tucson.
5. Sean’s Brother, Archie Miller, Is the Coach at Indiana
Basketball runs in the Miller family as Sean’s father, John Miller, was a legendary high school basketball coach in Pennsylvania. His sons have followed in his footsteps as Sean’s brother, Archie Miller, is the coach at Indiana. John spoke with AZCentral.com about Sean’s passion for the game at a young age.
I thought he would. Growing up, everything was basketball. We didn’t really care about anything else. Even to this day, I wish that I would’ve taken more pictures and he would’ve done more things. We just didn’t have time. We’d do a clinic at 10 a.m. and then we’d hang around for an hour or two and move on to another clinic in the afternoon. Sometimes Sean would do like three clinics in one day and he’s going full tilt, ball-handling drills, shooting, rope-skipping, juggling, shooting free throws, all this stuff. And I wouldn’t even take a picture. We’re there with Magic Johnson and Larry Bird sometimes. Isiah Thomas. And I rarely had any pictures. It was like, ‘We’re doing this and we’re moving on to the next place and we’re getting ready for high school basketball.’ We’d take vacations on the run. We’d go down to Old Dominion to do something down there and we’d maybe hit the beach for the weekend or something like that. Every day, we were burning. I was trying to make him as good as I could make him.
Archie’s wife, Morgan Miller, has a Twitter handle (@BBallWife4Life) that is the opposite of Amy’s old basketball widow username. Amy joked about it with USA Today.
“She was supposed to be on my side!” Amy told USA Today.