In the midst of San Jose State men’s basketball's best season since 2011, the mastermind behind it all might be on the way out the door.
According to a report from ESPN sources on Thursday, SJSU head coach Tim Miles is in the mix for a head coaching job at the University of California, Berkeley.
According to the report, Miles along with University of California, Santa Barbara head coach Joe Pasternack are at the top of the list for the Golden Bears.
Cal is in the middle of one of its worst seasons in over 100 years as they have won just three games under current head coach Mark Fox.
The same report from ESPN said Fox’s tenure at Cal will likely end after this season, meaning the Golden Bears will be in the hunt for a new head coach in the immediate future.
Miles said he has denied contact with any other university and said he is focused on finishing the season with the Spartans.
“I've had no contact with any other program and I am completely focused on our team,” Miles said after SJSU’s win over Colorado State on Tuesday night.
One of the big keys to Miles staying in San Jose in the coming year will be if SJSU will be able to provide more investments into the basketball program.
Miles said he wants to see improvement in aspects such as facilities and travel, according to a Monday San Francisco Chronicle article.
Unlike other Division I programs in the Bay Area, such as Cal and Stanford, SJSU has to work around a limited budget.
According to the Sacramento Bee public salaries database, Miles made $343,383 after taxes in 2022.
Fox signed a five-year contract with Cal that was worth $8.25 million, according to a 2019 Stadium article.
His take home pay in 2021 was just over $1.6 million, according to the Sacramento Bee database.
The basketball program at SJSU doesn’t have the luxuries that other Division I programs have, which Miles is pushing for.
The Spartans don’t have their own practice facility and they have to use the Provident Credit Union Event Center throughout the year to hold practices.
When the Event Center has other teams practising in it, the team has to reroute to Yoshihiro Uchida Hall, where they shoot hoops in the multipurpose room.
The team also does not have a private plane, which means they have to fly commercial flights to away games, or in some cases, bus to nearby locations.
SJSU players Omari Moore and Alvaro Cardenas are having their best seasons under Miles.
Moore, who was named Mountain West Player of the Week on Monday, has been playing at an All-Conference level. The shooting guard from Pasadena is averaging 17.1 points, 4.8 assists and 4.6 rebounds per game thus far.
Moore said he doesn’t pay much attention to the rumours, but acknowledged that they are caused by the team’s positive performance on the court.
“We don't really pay too much money to that,” Moore said after SJSU’s win over Colorado State on Tuesday night. “When you're doing well, [rumours] are gonna come up for players as well as coaches.”
Others within the athletic department have voiced their support for Miles to stay at SJSU.
“We want Tim here for a long time,” SJSU athletic director Jeff Konya said to the San Francisco Chronicle on Monday. “And I think he wants that, too.”
The length of Miles’ contract is currently unknown, but with his success at SJSU, his name could pop up in a variety of Power Five jobs this spring.
With the success the Spartans have had this season, the Spartans and Miles have become a national story, which has not happened at SJSU for a long time.
Miles said the rumours around him leaving are part of the business of college basketball and that his focus, at the moment, is on making SJSU a winning program.
“In the college coaching business I've had six, eight coaching jobs. You're either coming or going. If you're not doing well enough, they want to fire you, and if you start winning, everybody thinks you're leaving,” Miles said. “That's just the nature of the business. I ignore it. It's noise. It's loud. I really care about these guys. I really care about this program. I want to build a winner.”
