Jump to content

Thanks for visiting BtownBanners.com!  We noticed you have AdBlock enabled.  While ads can be annoying, we utilize them to provide these forums free of charge to you!  Please consider removing your AdBlock for BtownBanners or consider signing up to donate and help BtownBanners stay alive!  Thank you!

IU Hoosier41

Archie Miller Press Tour 2017

Recommended Posts

http://www.indystar.com/story/sports/college/indiana/2017/04/01/insider-what-can-iu-players-expect-archie-miller/99868954/

 

 

Login

SUBSCRIBE

SIGN IN

 

 

Share MediaShow Caption

IU

Insider: What can IU players expect from Archie Miller?

Facebook

Twitter

Email

Aa

_

+

Zach Osterman | zach.osterman@indystar.com

Updated 3 hours ago

BLOOMINGTON – An occurrence so regular, it became a game-night expectation for Ohio State, during the late 2000s.

 

Archie Miller, an intense-but-relatable young Buckeyes assistant, was always in charge of checking the updated box score during timeouts. Miller’s reaction became predictable.

 

New Indiana coach Archie Miller answers a question during a news conference on the court in ...more

Michael Conroy, AP

“He was responsible for points in transition, and counting deflections. We had goals for those kinds of things,” said Kyle Madsen, then a player at Ohio State. “It became a joke between us. He would crumble (the box scores) up in disgust and throw them right back at the managers, and step into the huddle and tell us, ‘You guys have got to step it up!’”

This was Archie Miller, at the time no more than 30 years old. He sometimes barely seemed older than the players he mentored, as part of coach Thad Matta’s staff.

 

He was tough but fair, intense but motivating, blessed with the rare gift of being able to relate to, and bring the best out of, players with a combination of both good cop and bad.

“He’s very passionate. He’ll get in your face if he has to. He doesn’t hold anything back. Whatever needs to be said at the time, he’ll say it,” said Dallas Lauderdale, another player on those Ohio State teams Miller served from 2007-09. “He’s able to identify with players, and see the potential they have so far beyond what they could themselves.”

 

North Carolina State's Archie Miller (11) races past Maryland's Steve Blake in the final minutes ...more

AP

Miller, 38, first broke into coaching as an intern under Herb Sendek, for whom Miller played college basketball at North Carolina State.

An undersized point guard (listed at a generous 5-11 by N.C. State) who played for his father, John, a legendary high school coach in Pennsylvania, Miller still sits in the top 10 in numerous career lists in Raleigh. In his senior season, he helped lead the Wolfpack to the ACC tournament championship game and the NCAA tournament.

 

“As he developed as a basketball player, he was challenged by his size,” Sendek, now the coach at Santa Clara, said this week. “He did it through hard work and by mastering the technique of shooting. That became his niche, that became his entry point.

“And then above and beyond that, in order for him to compete successfully, given his athleticism and his size, he had to be a scrapper. He had to fight and scratch and claw and battle, tooth and nail.”

Those traits stayed with Miller into coaching, where he followed his brother, Sean, now in charge at Arizona.

• INSIDER: Archie Miller not hiding from IU's sky-high expectations

• DOYEL: Don't worry IU fans, Archie Miller is hard at work

Miller’s first full-time job in the industry came as an assistant under Darrin Horn at Western Kentucky. He came recommended to Horn by Dave Telep, now the director of scouting for the San Antonio Spurs.

 

“(Telep) just said, ‘Hey look, I know this guy doesn’t have any experience, but I think he’s gonna be a star. You really ought to take some time and visit with him,’” Horn said. “I was really impressed. The pedigree kind of speaks for himself. I like guys who are successful as players, especially when it’s maybe not because of their natural talent.”

Only in Bowling Green for one season, Miller was instrumental in the Hilltoppers’ recruitment of Pike alumnus Courtney Lee, now with the New York Knicks.

Horn had first seen Lee during his time as an assistant at Marquette, working under Tom Crean.

“I’d always kind of liked Courtney. I wasn’t sure exactly where he’d fit, but thought he was a talent,” Horn said. “Archie was the guy that we put as being the lead recruiter on him as an assistant. He did what good assistants do. He was thorough and detailed, and built relationships.”

 

New Indiana coach Archie Miller answers a question during a news conference on the court in ...more

Michael Conroy, AP

Lee was named Sun Belt Conference player of the year as a senior, and helped lead the Hilltoppers to the 2008 Sweet 16. Miller moved on, returning to North Carolina State, then following Sendek to Arizona State before joining Matta's staff in Columbus.

 

His time at Ohio State taught Miller two enduring lessons he specifically referenced in his introductory news conference Monday.

First, it exposed him to Indiana basketball up close for the first time.

“My lasting impression here was nine years ago, in coach Crean's first year, when things weren't off to a good start. He had inherited something that wasn't very easy to take over,” Miller said. “I remember being in here and feeling the power of this building on that team, and I left saying, ‘I wonder what it's like in there when they're really good.’ I've always come back to that.”

And his time under Matta changed his approach to coaching.

“Coach Matta changed my complexion of what college basketball was all about,” Miller said. “It used to be, ‘Hey, I'm going to scout all these plays and get these guys ready to go.’ His approach was, you need to spend all that time not on the plays, you need to spend all that time on the players, and that was different.

“I loved it. I spent more time with the guys, and had the ability to work with great players.”

 

New Indiana coach Archie Miller waves as he walks on to the court of Assembly Hall before he was ...more

Michael Conroy, AP

It was a lesson Miller absorbed quickly, according to former Buckeyes.

Continue reading below

SPORTS

Knight, Keady reminisce about love for this state's basketball

SPORTS

Doyel: Can humbled Stephenson give Pacers jolt they need?

SPORTS

'Gut-checking time' for Pacers after loss to Raptors

SPORTS

'At last': Pacers great George McGinnis makes Hall of Fame

SPORTS

IU's Tanner Thompson makes quick impression with Eleven

For players in that era, Miller became both mentor and giver of tough love. He was genuine and easy to talk to.

 

“Everybody on our team, from the top of the roster to the bottom, really respected him,” Madsen said. “He was just able to have a conversation, always an honest conversation. Not always exactly what we wanted to hear, but you always knew he was right with what he was saying.”

That equal-opportunity approach played out on the floor as well.

Among Miller’s favorite drills was full-court one-on-one, and he wasn’t choosy about how he set it up. Once in a while, the 6-9 Madsen would find himself matched up against smaller, more agile opponents, and he’d have to figure out how to survive.

“I can remember myself playing full-court one-on-one against Evan Turner and David Lighty, guys that are significantly smaller and faster than me,” Madsen said. “A drill like that, looking back on it, that’s an unbelievable thing to do, and it improves your conditioning and your ability to guard in transition.”

• MORE: Collin Hartman to return, James Blackmon to test NBA waters

• INSIDER: Archie Miller's recruiting philosophy starts at home

On occasion, Miller would even jump into workouts, throw back to his playing days and run point. Whatever it took to get the most out of the task at hand.

 

“He gets you ready to compete at all times,” said Danny Peters, who played at Ohio State and is now an assistant at Ball State. “If you’re not ready to meet his level and the standard he sets for you, he’s going to find somebody who can.”

Hard-working, demanding and tough. Outgoing, easygoing and friendly. Willing to treat every player the same. Able to help them bridge the gap between potential and production, by being tough without being unfair.

Archie Miller’s players and former bosses all remember him much the same way. That’s not by accident.

“He was and still is incredibly intense, for sure,” Madsen said. “But I think he’s intense in the right kind of way. There’s intense where you’re sucking the fun out of the game, but then there’s the intense where he made people want to play harder. …

 

“To think he was 30 then, and impacting people in that way, is pretty mind blowing to me at this point. For somebody to leave that kind of impression speaks volumes about the type of person he is.”

 

Sent from my iPhone using BtownBanners

 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
34 minutes ago, Uspshoosier said:

Matt Denison has a great interview with Pat Graham on the hiring of Coach Miller in his twitter feed. If someone can link it is a great listen. Sorry guys I couldn't figure it out


Sent from my iPhone using BtownBanners

 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
57 minutes ago, Uspshoosier said:

I'm absolutely convinced his comments were heartfelt and sincere but boy were there some digs against the previous regime.  CAM talked about having played the game and the highs and lows of being a player, battling injuries, and what it's like to walk around campus when you're playing badly.  He also talked about the need to keep it in the locker room.  On these press tour interviews he's sounded so much more relaxed and at ease than he did in his first presser in AH.  This interview is definitely worth 17 minutes of your life.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

From USPS above post:

“He was responsible for points in transition, and counting deflections. We had goals for those kinds of things,” said Kyle Madsen, then a player at Ohio State. “It became a joke between us. He would crumble (the box scores) up in disgust and throw them right back at the managers, and step into the huddle and tell us, ‘You guys have got to step it up!’”

Everyone panic!!!


Sent from my iPhone using BtownBanners mobile app

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Coach Miller is on ESPN Radio with Bomani Jones this afternoon at 5 Eastern. 

http://es.pn/2nHpdzQ
Old Friend his answer to recruiting the state is really good and encouraging. He has said it many times but the way he said it in this interview was great


Sent from my iPhone using BtownBanners

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now

×