IU Coach Archie Miller spent his first week in Bloomington as IU’s head men’s basketball coach doing what he wished he had done six years ago.
In 2011, Miller left Arizona and took his first head-coaching job at Dayton. He felt overwhelmed and said he got to a point where he didn’t know which way was left or right. Part of Miller’s struggles were because it was his first time as a head coach, and part of it was trying to get re-acclimated from the West Coast.
After making the two-and-a-half-hour move from Dayton to Bloomington, Miller has been able to get situated well at IU. In his second head coaching gig, Miller said Wednesday in his roundtable with IU basketball columnists that he’s communicating more with staff members. He also said he’s investing more time with the current players than he did in the past.
“Taking time with the players, taking time with my decisions based on staff taking time with the incoming guys and looking at the roster, getting a grip on things has been the most important thing for me,” Miller said.
Miller said he knows the players will have mixed feelings about him at the start. He is doing his best to build positive relationships with every player and help them toward a future decision. The 38-year-old coach said he sat down and had individual meetings with every player on the team during his first week in Bloomington.
Senior forward Collin Hartman decided to stay another year after meeting with Miller. A few of his teammates, however, are still undecided.
It was reported last week that junior guard James Blackmon Jr. would enter the NBA draft but would not hire an agent. Sophomore forwards OG Anunoby and Thomas Bryant have NBA draft potential as well but have not decided on their plans yet.
Miller said his job is to stick with them day by day until that decision is made. Miller said unofficial decisions may have been made, but the program will announce the official word all at once.
“Whether I was the coach here or not, there was going to be postseason conversations,” Miller said. “Every kid had a different conversation. I have to get a grip on all of that, but I’ve started it off very, very blank with these guys.”
No official word has been made on Miller’s decision to hire assistant coaches, but they will be announced all at once as well, Miller said. He did say there would be a little bit of Dayton flavor in his staff.
As of now, Miller said pretty much everybody is onboard and the most important thing for the new coach is to get his guys into a routine.
IU was able to get on the practice floor for the first time under its new head coach this week and went three days in a row. Miller is splitting the players up into small groups to start and said they’ll continue on the practice floor the remainder of the week before getting back at it in the following week.
IU Athletics released a video of the Hoosier big men practicing Tuesday. Miller said he wants IU to become cutting edge on social media to showcase the IU brand.
Miller said he likes what he’s seen out of his new group so far and praised the team for its tenacious pace on offense.
“I think that’s been helpful to see us on the floor together,” Miller said. “That usually breaks the ice better for players and coaches better than anything.”
He said he’s been trying to stay around the campus as much as possible to build relationships before going out and recruiting, which will start this weekend.
The Hoosier three-man recruiting class was cut to one when both Clifton Moore and Al Durham Jr. requested releases from their NLIs following former IU Coach Tom Crean’s firing, although they have not yet been officially released. Justin Smith, the third member of the class from Stevenson, Illinois, stayed true to the program. Miller said he’s leaving Bloomington on Thursday and will meet with all three recruits during the weekend.
“All three guys are going to be 50-50,” Miller said.
Once the roster gets situated Miller can really get into his plan. He said he hopes to have an offseason routine set in May and get to see his groundwork in week one payoff in the near future.
Greg Gottfried contributed to reporting.
