Archie Miller (left, background) and his brother Sean, the head coach at Arizona, lead the Wildcats into the NCAA tournament Friday against Memphis (US Presswire photo/Chris Morrison)

How long it will take for mid-major and high-profile programs to get a piece of the Sean Miller coaching magic?

That does not include hiring Miller. He has too much of a good thing going at Arizona, the least of which his lucrative $2 million-a-year contract through 2014. Miller should become a fixture in Tucson, especially after landing a top five recruiting class (with many more like it to come) after winning the regular-season Pac-10 title a year ahead of schedule.

Miller, 42, is the second-coming of Lute Olson and I don’t mean that in a grandiose way. He became the leader of a national championship-caliber program at the right time. Olson’s leave of absence, abrupt retirement and two seasons of interim coaches preceded Miller’s opportune arrival. It is in the same realm of Olson’s hire from Iowa after Ben Lindsey almost sent the program back to the Ice Age with a 4-24 record in 1982-83.

This is ascension time for Miller at Arizona, but with consequences. With coaching vacancies an annual occurrence — this year’s lot includes openings at Oklahoma, Arkansas, North Carolina State and Georgia Tech to name a few — athletic directors will come calling, not for him, but his staff.

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RELATED LINK AT WILDCATSPORTSREPORT.COM: Las Vegas Bishop Gorman forward Ben Carter recruitment heats up from Arizona and others

LAS VEGAS — Arizona assistant coach Archie Miller could not attend Saturday night’s double-overtime thriller between Henderson (Nev.) Findlay Prep and Las Vegas Bishop Gorman here because of a prior engagement in Pullman, Wash.

So Miller went to his next-best option knowing that some recognizable coaches would be in attendance at Cox Pavilion, which is adjacent to Thomas and Mack Arena, UNLV’s home arena. Lon Kruger and his Rebels staff were among the many collegiate coaches watching the prospects on the Findlay and Gorman rosters.

More appropriately, these coaches attended Findlay’s 89-86 victory to be seen by the players and the parents or guardians.

With Arizona’s staff in the Palouse coaching the Wildcats to their most important victory in the brief Sean Miller Era, what was their best way to compete against the scenario of UCLA coach Ben Howland sitting courtside next to Jerry Tarkanian?

What was their answer for Washington coach Lorenzo Romar and Oklahoma State coach Travis Ford walking on the court after the game in plain view?

Findlay guard Nick Johnson, a Class of 2011 signee with Arizona, became an extension of the Wildcat coaching staff. He not only had the task of guarding potential McDonald’s All-American Shabazz Muhammad of Bishop Gorman, but also show Muhammad’s teammates — Class of 2012 standouts Rosco Allen and Ben Carter — what could lie ahead if they team with Johnson at Arizona.

“I talked to Archie and he said just go at them,” said Johnson, when asked about playing against the potential future teammates. “Archie said, ‘Make them see what they are still missing.’ I mean, they are young bucks still. We are recruiting them. It would be huge to get them.”

Some of the more optimistic Arizona fans believe the “them” Johnson is talking about should include Muhammad, a slender yet strong 6-foot-6, 205-pound, Class of 2012 wing player who is garnering interest from the nation’s elite including North Carolina, Duke, UCLA, Kentucky and Texas. Memphis, coached by former UA player and assistant coach Josh Pastner, is also aggressively recruiting him.

Muhammad contends that he includes Arizona on his list, but even his high school coach Grant Rice insinuated to me after Saturday night’s game that the Wildcats are not in his immediate plans.

“Nick playing against Shabazz tonight was a good individual matchup,” Rice said. “They will probably play each other again in college at some point.”

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More information about the Arizona-Washington outcome offered at our partner site WILDABOUTAZCATS.com

Washington guard Isaiah Thomas had an air of confidence looking over Arizona's defense despite his listed height of 5-foot-9 (US Presswire photos/Mike Nelson)

The one constant in Arizona’s four losses this season: The Wildcats did not have an answer for the opponent’s marquee player or players.

Kansas twins Markieff and Marcus Morris combined for 31 points on 11-of-19 shooting from the field in the Jayhawks’ 87-79 win on Nov. 27 in Las Vegas.

BYU All-American guard Jimmer Fredette had 33 points (on 11 of 22 shooting from the field) and nine rebounds on Dec. 11 at Salt Lake City.

Oregon State’s Jared Cunningham, a viable All-Pac-10 player, scored 18 points on only 3 of 10 shooting but he nailed 10-of-11 free throw attempts on Jan. 2 in Corvallis.

And Thursday night during Arizona’ 85-68 loss to Washington in Seattle, Isaiah Thomas — who just might steal that Pac-10 Player of the Year honor from Derrick Williams — gave a clinic on how to break down an opponent’s defense.

Thomas used ball-screens and his quickness off the dribble to penetrate and score 22 points on 7-of-12 shooting with 10 assists (with one turnover) and six rebounds.

“Some of their other players are very good, but Thomas has an amazing ability to use ball screens to score himself or get other people in a position to score,” Milller told reporters afterward. “It is much simpler to stop a player from doing one of the two, but when he can do both its almost impossible. Washington does a great job putting players in the right position, and some of their best baskets came off Thomas passes.

“When he has the ball in his hands, a lot of bad things happen for you.”

Things got bad for Arizona against Thomas, especially in a hostile environment with an unfavorable defensive track record (particularly on the perimeter) this year.

A significant factor contributing to Arizona’s “milk-and-cookies defense” is the lack of stoppers on the perimeter, where the development of the opposing offense starts. Milk and cookies refers to Miller joking early this season that the Wildcats offered the opponent milk and cookies to the opposing best player a year ago.

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