ASU's Bobby Hurley and UA's Sean Miller: 'It's scary how similar they are'

The respect between rival programs in Tucson and Tempe always seems to hit a roadblock, and that’s OK. It’s how these things work. Except in one significant case.

As basketball coaches, Arizona’s Sean Miller and Arizona State’s Bobby Hurley share a mutual respect, one neither has tried to hide from its red-faced fan base. Before the season, with Arizona involved in an FBI investigation, Hurley avoided publicly criticizing Miller’s program, unlike others within the Pac-12.

For his part, Miller praised the Sun Devils after they defeated Kansas in December, telling reporters that Hurley had to be among the top candidates for coach of the year. Both coaches said similar things this week as they prepared for Thursday’s conference showdown at sold-out Wells Fargo Arena, their sixth clash as rival coaches, the previous five won by Miller.

“I got a ton of respect for Sean,” Hurley said. “I respect how he coaches. How he does it, his approach to running a program, building a program, getting guys to defend and value the right things … That’s where I stand, the utmost respect for him.”

Miller understands the big picture of this. He knows how folks nationally view the Pac-12 – as UCLA, Arizona and everyone else. If one anchor program struggles, people think the conference is down. That’s why Oregon’s recent surge was so important, Miller said – it helped the conference's overall profile. ASU’s surge this season has done the same, especially after so many programs struggled to start.

“There’s 12 of us, and it’s nice when you can point to a number of teams and coaches and programs (that are) growing,” Miller told reporters. “Everything that ASU is doing right now is, I think, a positive.”

Although they grew up 400 miles apart, Miller and Hurley have led similar lives. Both were raised in gymnasiums, the sons of high school basketball coaches. Both turned into gritty college point guards, Miller at Pittsburgh, Hurley at Duke. And both have become college coaches fueled by intensity.

“It’s scary how similar they are,” Fran Fraschilla said on Wednesday, not long after touching down in rainy Phoenix. Along with Dave Pasch, he will call Thursday’s contest for ESPN.

Fraschilla has known Miller and Hurley since their high school days, and he has great respect for their fathers. John Miller and Bob Hurley both are coaching legends, Miller in Pennsylvania, Hurley in New Jersey. Fraschilla said both rank among the top 10-15 coaches he’s met – at any level.

“Both John and Bob Sr., they’re the modern version of basketball Frankensteins,” Fraschilla said. “They developed two great college point guards. Both played for very good college coaches – obviously, Bobby played for arguably the greatest college coach ever. The passion, the work ethic and the knowledge of the game just kind of fits these guys, passion maybe being at the top.”

They enter Thursday’s contest in different places. In his ninth season, Miller, 49, chases expectations, perhaps the profession's biggest challenge. Despite Arizona's two-game lead in the Pac-12, most folks simply want to discuss how the Wildcats will fare in March. That’s life in Tucson, the product of success started under former coach Lute Olson.

In Tempe, Hurley, 46, battles something altogether different. ASU has made just three NCAA Tournaments since 2000. Here, simply making the field is considered a success. The best Hurley can do to battle Arizona’s state supremacy is just chip away, stacking one strong season after another.

“For me, to build what I’m building, it’s taken time to get guys to buy in and play the way we need to play,” Hurley said. “With him, it’s even more difficult with all the change year-in and year-out that he has, and it’s a good problem to have because you’re getting elite talent in every year. But it’s also difficult to get the guys to do the little things. I think all those things are important. They add up to a lot. and (Miller) gets those guys to do that for the most part.”

In a 2017 interview, former Arizona product Rondae Hollis-Jefferson told azcentral sports that Miller was different than most coaches. Some just like to call plays, he said, but Miller “wants to feel like he’s in the game.” Hurley is the same way, and he hopes it takes the program to a similar level.

One day.

“When a coach comes into a league and he’s got the resources to do it, you look around and you go, 'OK, who's the king of the hill?' ” Fraschilla said. “Well, it’s been UCLA and Arizona forever, so that’s your standard. You shoot for that. You may not be at their level every single season, but if they’re in the Top 10 and you get into the Top 20 and you’re knocking them off on occasion, you can set yourself up to be a successful program, too.

“That's what I think Bobby is doing right now in Tempe.”

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Contact Doug Haller at 602-444-4949 or at doug.haller@arizonarepublic.com. Follow him at Twitter.com/DougHaller.

Thursday's game

No. 17 Arizona at No. 25 Arizona State

When: 7 p.m.

Where: Wells Fargo Arena, Tempe.

TV/Radio: ESPN/KTAR 98.7 FM, KGME 910 AM.

Streaming: Watch ESPN.

Outlook: ASU (19-6, 7-6 in the Pac-12) has won three in a row, its best stretch of the conference season. ... G Tra Holder is averaging 21.3 points, 4.3 rebounds and 3.3 assists over his past three games. Perhaps more important: He's gotten to the foul line, making 20 of 23. ... Arizona (20-6 and 10-3) beat ASU 84-78 in Tucson in each school's conference opener. ... F Deandre Ayton (19.5 ppg, 10.7) and G Allonzo Trier are Pac-12 POY candidates, but the supporting cast likely will be key. C Dusan Ristic (11.8 ppg, 7 rpg) has averaged 16.6 points over his past eight games, shooting 70.8 percent. ... In addition, G Rawle Alkins had 20 points, three rebounds and five assists in Saturday's USC win.