It's Miller time: Brown coach to succeed Dunphy

After a two-week search, Brown's Glen Miller will be introduced as the new head coach of the Penn men's basketball team at a press conference at 2 p.m. today at the Palestra.

"I heard from scores of university presidents, athletic directors and basketball coaches, and the unanimous opinion is that Glen is a person of integrity, sincerity and uncommon coaching acumen," Penn athletic director Steve Bilsky said in a statement.

Miller arrived on campus last night, and said in a statement that he is "honored and thrilled to have been asked to be a part of the program here at Penn.

"I have always enjoyed bringing my teams to play at the Palestra, and I look forward to enjoying the home court advantage that the Palestra affords our team," he added.

Miller will take over for Fran Dunphy, who left for Temple last month, to become the 17th coach in Penn history. The former Brown coach also becomes the first person to ever coach two Ivy League basketball teams, and coincidentally replaces the first person to ever coach two Big 5 teams.

At Brown, Miller compiled a 93-99 overall record and a 54-44 mark in Ivy League play. After finishing in seventh place in the conference in his first season, the Bears finished in second place in three of the next four years.

The first of those seasons marked the first time Brown finished with a winning record since 1986, when the team won its only Ivy League title.

Although Brown never reached the NCAA Tournament in Miller's time there, the Bears did make it to the NIT in 2003 after finishing 12-2 in the Ancient Eight. Both losses came to Penn.

Miller drew the attention of many Penn fans after his team's game at the Palestra that season, in which Penn rallied late for a 73-66 win. After spending much of the evening expressing his displeasure with the referees, Miller told the media after the game that his team "got jammed up our asses by three officials."

A year later, though, Brown swept Penn for the first time in its history, coming out on the right side of two close games.

Miller won praise for recruiting such players as Earl Hunt, Alai Nuualiitia and Jason Forte, the brother of former North Carolina star Joe Forte.

But Miller also drew criticism for his large recruiting classes, which played a considerable role in the 60-percent player attrition rate during Miller's seven years in Providence, R.I.

Prior to coaching at Brown, Miller was the head coach at Division III Connecticut College for six years, and he reached the semifinals of the NCAA Tournament in his final season with the Camels.

His first job was as an assistant at the University of Connecticut under current Huskies coach Jim Calhoun.

Calhoun said in a statement that he has "no doubt that [Miller] will work hard to maintain the outstanding tradition of success and add to the lore that is Penn basketball."

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