Not long after the Big 12 and Big East schedules came out last fall, Ryan Reynolds knew the Arizona Wildcats might be in need this weekend.
He also knew that Sean Miller, of all people, would be willing to help.
So Reynolds, the former UA director of basketball operations now working a similar role under Miller at Xavier, mapped it out: Xavier would be leaving Cincinnati on Thursday for a Friday game at Georgetown, vacating its Cintas Center ... while Arizona would likely arrive early for a Saturday afternoon game at Cincinnati and be looking for a place to practice on Friday or Saturday.
Reynolds began discussing the possibility with UA trainer Justin Kokoskie, then approached Miller, who happened to be fired by Arizona in April 2021.
“I kind of asked him if it would be OK and he said ‘yeah,’” Reynolds said. “If they want to use any of our stuff, I’d say we’re at their service. There’s no animosity.”
Former Arizona coach Sean Miller, center right, kneels during the first half of surging Xavier’s 90-87 win over Creighton on Jan. 11, 2023.
Reynolds wasn’t kidding. The Musketeers staff not only invited the Wildcats to practice at Cintas on Friday but even offered UA equipment manager Brian Brigger, a former Xavier student manager, the use of their washing machines after the Wildcats face the Bearcats across town on Saturday afternoon.
Reynolds said a lot of teams who arrive to play Cincinnati actually practice at Xavier beforehand, since Cincinnati’s practice facility is small and frequently occupied by other sports teams.
“The (available) times aren’t always great, and if you can’t get their main arena, it’s almost like what’s the point of going over there?” Reynolds said.
But offering the Wildcats a chance to use their facilities is something of a no-brainer for the Musketeer staff.
Because many of them are Wildcats.
Arizona head coach Sean Miller and director of operations Ryan Reynolds (left) remind the players that the Bruins are up against the shot clock in the second half of their semifinal game at the Pac-12 tournament, March 13, 2015, in Las Vegas.
Not only did Reynolds work for Miller during his entire 12-year Arizona stint, and stayed a year in a UA athletic department role after Miller’s firing, but Xavier also has four other staffers with Arizona ties in addition to Miller and Reynolds.
Xavier associate head coach Adam Cohen actually started his career as a manager under Lute Olson, worked as a video coordinator and stayed on the staff under interim head coach Kevin O’Neill in 2007-08 – then re-joined O’Neill at USC before going on to work at Harvard, Vanderbilt and Stanford.
Another assistant coach, David Miller, also started his career as a UA manager but did so under Sean Miller. David Miller wound up spending two stints with the Wildcats, working also as a graduate manager and as an on-campus recruiting coordinator, then went on to San Jose State as an assistant before re-joining Sean Miller at Xavier in 2022.
Xavier’s player development assistant coach, Ryan Anderson, spent two seasons playing at Arizona under Miller, sitting out 2014-15 as a transfer from Boston College before becoming a first-team all-Pac-12 pick in 2015-16.
The final Arizona tie to the staff is also Miller’s second of three sons. Cameron Miller helped Salpointe High School win the 2020 4A title, then graduated from UA and joined Xavier as director of basketball operations upon his dad’s return in 2022.
Sean Miller’s youngest son, Braden, also graduated from UA and is working in Cincinnati outside of Xavier’s basketball program (Miller’s oldest son, Austin, is an attorney in Denver).
Together, the Xavier staffers helped the Musketeers go 27-10 and reach the Sweet 16 in 2023, 16-18 last season and 9-5 so far this year.
Xavier won its first six games this season before losing 5 of 7, including close losses to TCU, UConn, Marquette and, in the ever-heated Crosstown Shootout, Cincinnati.
“In all those games we were right there to win it,” Reynolds said. “It was one of those runs where we had a whole bunch of difficult games in a row.”
The Wildcats are expected to start a similar schedule stretch on Saturday, facing a 16th-ranked Cincinnati team smarting from a loss at Kansas State. Then there’s a Tuesday game at West Virginia, which already has beaten Arizona as well as Gonzaga and Kansas, while No. 25 Baylor will arrive on Jan. 14 at McKale Center.
(And that’s just early January in a UA conference schedule that is actually backloaded).
But the Wildcats are at least able to get this trip in before the winter break ends at Cincinnati and West Virginia, meaning student sections could be compromised. When asked Thursday about the possible lack of students and how important the atmosphere would be, Cincinnati coach Wes Miller said the crowd environment would be extremely important.
“Our fans give us a lift, give us an advantage,” Wes Miller said. “I say this when I’m out on the recruiting trail, and I brag to my friends about it, that when Fifth Third is right, there ain’t nowhere better in college basketball. Our challenge is to make it right every night.”
The entrance to the court at the University of Cincinnati’s Fifth Third Arena (reopened after an $87 million renovation in 2018).
Reynolds, who is also a Cincinnati native who grew up following all of the area’s sports teams, said he thought Saturday’s game would feature a great atmosphere.
“It’s a basketball school,” Reynolds said. “In the last 10 years, they’ve been on a good football run but it’s a basketball school at heart. They’re off to a really good start. I would say they could play 10 guys that are good. This is, by far, the most talented team that they’ve had” under Wes Miller.
The Musketeers are scheduled to return from the Georgetown game about 2 or 3 a.m. Saturday, theoretically allowing them time to watch the Wildcats.
NCAA rules prohibit coaches from in-person scouting during the regular season, but that doesn’t mean they won’t be paying attention. Reynolds, for one, has long been part of a group chat that includes Brigger, UA associate head coach Jack Murphy, Kokoskie and UA superfan Paul Volpe.
“I can’t say we always stay up as late as the games are to actually watch Arizona, but we know what’s happening out there with them,” Reynolds said. “There’s still enough connections, and obviously we want them to do well.”
