Miller makes IU debut

Though he was not the main attraction at Saturday night’s Hoosier Hysteria at Assembly Hall, IU women’s Coach Curt Miller had the opportunity to talk to more than 17,000 IU basketball fans.

After a long video introduction that touted Miller’s success at Bowling Green, Miller jogged onto center court and was interviewed by the night’s emcee, SportsCenter co-anchor and IU alumna Sage Steele.

“This is my dream job,” Miller said. “Living the dream now.”

Prior to the interview, Steele praised Miller and thanked him for making the decision to come to IU.

“You have Curt Miller, a man who has come in here to lead the Hoosier women back to where they belong,” she said.

Steele said Miller talked like a Hoosier. Miller said though he was born in the small town of Girard, Pa., it felt like a small Indiana town.

“I grew up in a basketball crazy town,” he said. “When I was little, I started referring to our hometown as a Hoosier town.”

Miller said he will approach this job as a marathon, not a race.

In that marathon, Miller wants to see Hoosier fans come out to Assembly Hall to cheer on his team, too.

He finished his final years at Bowling Green with a 60-4 home court record and said he wants that atmosphere in Bloomington.

“No one wanted to play us at home,” Miller said. “No one will want to play us at Assembly. We need your help.”

He said when people asked him why he would leave a place as successful as Bowling Green, it was because that program didn’t have 17,000 screaming fans.

Miller also added he wants to recruit across Indiana to rebuild the program.

When Steele asked him about his thoughts on this year’s team, Miller said he likes the team’s effort to adjust and learn the new system.

“I love their work ethic, their reception to the new era,” he said. “We’re playing completely different from last year. They’re buying into it.”

Miller finished his address to the crowd by recognizing strength and conditioning Coach Tom Morris, who is recovering from a spinal injury suffered in June. Morris received a standing ovation from the crowd.