The Basketball Tournament: Red Scare roster includes seven Archie Miller recruits

Miller’s name will come up often among his former players this week and in the days ahead as the memories flood back and the team prepares to play at UD Arena at 3 p.m. Sunday. They wonder how he might coach the group.

“It would be a typical Archie practice,” said former Dayton guard Scoochie Smith, who helped lead Miller’s teams to four straight NCAA tournament appearances. “High intensity. An hour and a half to two hours of competing and getting after it. You don’t score, you get screamed at. You get scored on, you get screamed at. Just bringing that competitive nature.”

Smith plans to visit his former coach in Kingston, R.I., later this summer, and he’ll still root for him when Rhode Island’s not playing Dayton.

“It’s going to be a little tougher now that he’s in the A-10,” Smith said, “but I’m happy for him.”

That was the common theme among the players who talked about Miller on Thursday during a meet-and-greet with fans at Hunny Bee’s Crispy Fried on Brown Street. The group had its third day of practice and was missing only one player, Vee Sanford, who was scheduled to arrive later in the day. Coach Joey Gruden said the whole roster of 10 players will be together at practice for the first time Friday.

Miller brought Gruden into the program as a walk-on in the 2014-15 season. Jeremiah Bonsu, who’s assisting Gruden with the Red Scare for second straight year, also joined the program that season as a walk-on. Both still support Miller.

“He’s the guy who who gave me a chance to play basketball,” Gruden said. “I think it’s great for the conference and the fans and the rivalry. I’m excited to see him coaching again.”

“I’m going to root for him except when they play Dayton, and I hope they lose by 30,” Bonsu said. “I do hope the Dayton fans cheer him early and give him a standing ovation, and then afterwards, they can boo him and do whatever they want to do. I’m happy for him. I’m happy for his family. And those Rhode Island guys, they’re working. We know that.”

Miller won’t return to UD Arena until the 2023-24 season. Dayton plays at Rhode Island next season, but the teams meet only once after playing twice the last six seasons.

In addition to Smith, Sanford, Gruden and Bonsu, the other former Miller players with the Red Scare are Jordan Sibert, Ryan Mikesell, Darrell Davis, Josh Cunningham and Trey Landers. Of that group, only Landers played the majority of his career — three of his four seasons — for the current Dayton coach, Anthony Grant. Mikesell played two seasons for Miller, sat out a season after undergoing hip surgeries and then played two seasons for Grant.

Sibert, who scored 1,153 points in two seasons at Dayton, ranks among the top recruits of the Miller era.

“HIs impact here on each player individually, it’s hard not to talk about him,” Sibert said. “Every story may be a little different for every player. I think the fans will welcome him back even though he’ll be the opposing coach. The legacy he left here will be forever set in stone.”

Mikesell said Miller would look at the Red Scare roster and say, “These guys are all winners.”

“All these guys won A-10 championships,” Mikesell said. “Obviously, they had the Elite Eight run before I was there. We have a winning mentality. So hopefully we let that run its course through the tournament and trust our instincts that were developed under him.”