Xavier's Sean Miller Had More to Say About Illinois Than 'I Could Care Less'

Don't misinterpret the initial reaction from the Musketeers' coach about playing the Illini in the NCAA Tournament

Mar 20, 2025; Milwaukee, WI, USA; Xavier Musketeers head coach Sean Miller speaks during an NCAA Tournament First Round Practice press conference at Fiserv Forum. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images / Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images

If you were watching college basketball Wednesday night – and let's be honest, what else would you be doing? – you heard it for yourself: After Xavier's 86-80 win over Texas in the First Four, Musketeers coach Sean Miller was asked about the next team up: Illlinois.

Miller was blunt: "I could care less," he said. "I don't even care."

Disrespect? Bulletin board material? Psychological warfare?

Wednesday night’s postgame interview with Xavier’s Sean Miller.

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— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) March 20, 2025

Don't be silly. Miller said it with a smile – and why wouldn't he? He was caught up in a moment, jubilant over a win, ecstatic for an extra couple of days of basketball, jazzed for another game to squeeze out of Xavier's pulse-quickening 2024-25 season.

After the dust had settled and adrenaline burned off, Miller had more to say about the Illini in Thursday's press conference – nearly all of it amounting to effusive praise.

"Illinois is a fantastic team," Miller said. "They're good on both defense and offense. I think you start to really fall in love with their offense watching it, because it's the modern game and they have so many playmakers.

"But I think they're a very good passing team. They look for each other, they're balanced in scoring. Not too many teams really sit there with five players in double figures. And, obviously, we respect the Big 10 as a conference. You know, when you average over 80 points a game in that league, from an offensive perspective, you have a lot of things you do well.

"They play with great pace. They're in transition. They play a very fast tempo. They shoot the three-point shot about as much as anybody in the country, when you think about the percentage of shots they shoot – but not with just a couple guys. It just seems like they have five, six, seven different players on a given night that can make threes, which is always really dangerous."

That's all low-hanging fruit – the stuff any amateur bracketologist can objectively observe in scouting Illinois from their BarcaLounger. But Miller understands not only what really sets the Illini apart but also makes them so tough to beat, whether they're hitting those bushels of three-point attempts or not.

"I think the other thing they do exceptionally well is, they offensive rebound," Miller said. "And they don't do it like people used to do it, where your bigs crashed the glass. Their guards from the corners, and just their team in general, they have a relentless nature of getting second shots."

To avoid a pounding in the paint, the Musketeers – especially their guards, whose instincts are to look for an outlet pass or get out in transition after an opposing shot – must keep the Illini from crawling all over the glass. Much easier said than done for an undersized group with a modest plus-1.2 rebounding margin facing Division I's sixth-best team in that category (plus-8.8).

"We've seen that a lot in the Big East," Miller said, "teams in our league like St. John's, Marquette does it a little bit, Seton Hall. We have some teams, UConn – very physical on the offensive glass. That will be a huge challenge for us as well."

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