Arizona president says Sean Miller will coach Ohio State 'over my dead body'

On Monday, the college basketball world was shocked when Ohio State (essentially) fired Thad Matta after 13 seasons as head coach. And just as soon as the ink went dry on that decision, the attention turned to who could be the next head coach in Columbus.

While names like Xavier's Chris Mack and Cincinnati's Mick Cronin are probably realistic targets for the Buckeyes, there is one pie-in-the-sky, throw-up-a-Hail-Mary-and-pray-for-a-miracle candidate: Arizona's Sean Miller. Miller has Midwestern roots (he grew up in Pittsburgh and actually replaced Matta as head coach at Xavier when Matta left for Columbus in 2004) and has had insane success in a young career. Miller's teams have made it to the Sweet 16 or beyond in seven of his 13 seasons as a head coach.

But while Miller might be the dream candidate for Ohio State fans, the folks in Tucson won't make it easy to lure him away. That isn't just an opinion, but a fact, after new Arizona President Dr. Robert Robbins was asked about the possibility by The Arizona Republic this week.

Robbins didn't mince any words:

“The Ohio State University is great university, but they are not going to get Coach Miller," Robbins said during a wide-ranging interview with The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com. "They will have to come over me to get him, as the saying goes, over my dead body."