UA’s Greg Byrne doesn’t think Sean Miller’s ‘go cheer for ASU’ tweet is any big deal
Apr 1, 2015, 3:17 PM | Updated: 3:19 pm
The Arizona Wildcats advanced to the Elite 8 of the NCAA Tournament for the second straight season.
And for the second straight year, they were bounced from the tourney in the West Regional Final by the Wisconsin Badgers.
For a team that has been ranked in the top 10 of the AP Poll the entire season, there was a healthy level of expectation among the fan base that head coach Sean Miller would break through and finally guide the ‘Cats to a Final Four appearance.
With unmet expectations comes disappointment, and nobody was more disappointed with the criticism that accompanied the loss than Miller, who vented on Twitter.
Finally to the people that try to make us feel like our season was a failure. Go cheer for ASU! #BearDown
— Sean Miller (@UACoachMiller) March 30, 2015
The tweet ruffled more than a few feathers in Tucson and Tempe, to say the least.
But what did Arizona athletic director Greg Byrne think of the message?
“Oh, I laughed a little bit about it,” Byrne told Doug and Wolf Wednesday on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM. “Sean’s actually got a really good sense of humor and he actually, I think, had been fairly isolated from most of the comments and quite frankly, those comments, I’m guessing didn’t come from Arizona fans.”
Byrne also didn’t think Miller’s comment was a shot fired toward the rival school to the north.
“One of the great things about college athletics is the rivalries, and I think it’s important to have a little fun with the rivalry from time to time and have some lighthearted comments,” he said. “I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that. That’s what I thought about it at the time.”
