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BIG TEN CONFERENCE BASKETBALL MEDIA DAYS

October 19, 2017

Tim Miles

Madison Square Garden - New York, New York

THE MODERATOR: Our first coach up this morning is Nebraska head coach Tim Miles.

COACH MILES: They always have me early. I feel like I'm the "Good Morning Vietnam" guy. But I love following the Commissioner. You know a guy is highly intelligent when he can say that much and say that little. So, good luck writing all that stuff, folks.

We're picked 13th by most of you in this room and some others, and that's fine. I think we're going to outperform that. I would expect we do. I like our guys. Should be a fun year. The Big Ten has obviously got some elite teams at the top. I think Minnesota is really good. I think Michigan State is elite.

I think there's a lot of good teams. Iowa is going to be much better. But I think it feels like when you get 3 through 12 or 13, feels like the NFL. You've got extremely successful coaches, well-resourced programs. You've got teams that are prepared. You've got teams that, you know, if you get injured you're dead. If you get on a roll you could be real good.

But it certainly feels like what you see in NFL season where one team out of nowhere is all of a sudden in the playoffs and making a run, and there certainly are those teams that are steadfast, but on any given year something good can happen.

So, we're excited to make that work for the Huskers is what I'm trying to say. So with that, are there any questions?

Q. Just your thoughts on the league going to a 20-game schedule and how it's going to affect you guys going forward?
COACH MILES: Originally I didn't love the 20-game schedule, especially with the in-state protected rivalries. It felt like -- almost felt like -- because there were some -- felt like a tier. Like we've got these guys that are traditional powers. And we're going to make sure we protect them. But I know that's not the case.

But as we get more into it, I think playing valuable games and more valuable games and consistent teams is really good for us. I think it's probably overall very good for the league.

Will it get us another team or so into the NCAA Tournament, which would be the goal? I think that just depends on anything.

I think factors, anytime you play high-level games -- the Huskers have played as many high-level games as anybody in the regular season in the last two seasons, and I think we played 21 two years ago and 20 last year or whatever top 100 teams, and I think only Michigan State has played more.

But when you look at that, we don't ever want for much when it comes to playing an ambitious schedule. So we're always going to play that way. I'm excited about whether it be a 20-game schedule or an 18-game schedule, the Big Ten is what I grew up in, and it's an elite league and certainly one of the best, whether it be in March or January.

Q. You went through quite a 20 -- 12 month as far as people leaving, people coming. Did you get any cohesive reason for why all that happened to you? Was there any one kind of reason that you heard from these kids who got out or what?
COACH MILES: That's a very good question. What's interesting about it is this team is probably more cohesive than any team I've had now in about three or four years, what's left. And so, one, no one likes losing. There's no doubt about it.

When you're struggling, you know, kids don't want to be part of losing, even kids who start 67 out of 69 games. You understand that. And so young people get frustrated. There's no question about that.

One interesting thing, I think, that I had four kids in my office last year before we played a game that asked me about their position. And this year I've had zero ask me about their position.

And so I think that that may tell you a couple of things. One, I need to start saying we play position-less basketball, but, yes, you're guarding the center on the other team, the position-less center, the big tall guy, the Isaac Haas who's 7'9", 280, and darn good at sales, by the way. I think he just sold me something on the bus on the way here. He's going to be a successful dude.

When you look at that, when people get all caught up in their role and it becomes this kind of rumination about what about me, things get tough. And usually that hurts the team.

And so you get young people that are going to leave because they're more concerned about their well-being than they are the condition of the program.

That's the way it is in business, in life. That's why you have divorce. That's why you have people that leave businesses, and that's what happens to basketball teams, too.

Q. You mentioned cohesion. When did you get a sense that this team sort of developed that, at what point during the summer, I guess, what indications did you gather from the group that it's going to be pretty tight knit?
COACH MILES: You know, last spring, and Shawn was right with us and our staff. So we have two guys that are starters that transferred out that were part of a coveted recruiting class. And all heck is breaking loose. That's to put it as mildly as I can.

All of a sudden Shawn is my office, Shawn Eichorst is the athletic director in my office, and Kenya walks in and we're going to lose another starter. There's rumors out there, this coach called us to say he's hearing this and that. And you really feel like you see one of those movies with -- "Too Big to Fail" or whatever it might be, you feel you're in the room with the Wall Street bankers saying this can't be happening.

And more than anything I think that galvanized us, going through those moments together, figuring out, all right, who is really in here and why are you in? And who is out?

And there's nothing wrong with being out. There's very few things in life you get where they say you've got four years to do it. You have four years to be married or you have four years to drive a car.

But college basketball you've got four years to play college basketball. So you've got to get it right. It's got to go right for you. So kids are going to leave if it's not right. And it has to be right to their taste palate and their preference too. Because there aren't many things in life that are like a college basketball career.

I don't mind if they leave. I think then with some other feeling that, oh boy, what's going on with the Huskers? This is a bad deal. It actually just made us stronger and better. That's why I really liked this team. I think there's more cohesiveness. We're a stronger team. I think we've got plenty of talent, too.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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