Kindred spirits
For Sean Miller, the rivalry thing with ASU hasn’t been easy. For his first six seasons, he had to coach against Sendek, his friend and former boss at Miami (Ohio) and North Carolina State.
Now he must coach against Hurley, a fellow USA Basketball point guard during the 1991 World University Games in Sheffield, England.
“That team won a gold medal and had quite a few NBA players,” Miller said. “But I’d say if (Hurley) was not our best player, he was one of the best two or three.”
CBS Sports Network analyst Pete Gillen, who worked on the USA staff that summer, told the Arizona Republic that Hurley started while Miller backed him up, but that both also played well together sometimes.
"Different personalities, but terrific college players,'' Gillen told the Republic. "Bobby was friendly, but more serious, very respectful, very driven. Sean was more of a personality -- hard-nosed -- but he had a fun side to him, too. He was more like the cat that ate the canary.”
Miller also praised Hurley’s play with Duke, saying an auto accident may have limited what would have been a long NBA career.
“I don't think everybody completely realizes how great of a player he was,” Miller said. “Not only was he a two-time national champion but sometimes if you played Duke everybody says, `Well, he played with a lot of great players.’ But he might have been the best player on those teams, with how talented, how fast and quick he was.”
