Miles tells KLIN, “I still believe in our recipe”

By Tommy Rezac

Nebraska men’s basketball coach Tim Miles was Jack Mitchell’s in-studio “friend” on KLIN’s “LNK Today with Jack & Friends” Wednesday morning.

Miles, entering his sixth season as Nebraska’s head coach, said this past offseason was one of the toughest he’d ever been through.

“I will tell you from the inside, it was probably my most difficult time as a professional,” Miles said, “because I felt just like the public did. You know, ‘what in the hell is going on? I mean, honestly.’”

Not only did Nebraska suffer its third consecutive losing season in 2016-17 (12-19 overall, 6-12 Big Ten), but also had four players transfer out of the program, including the two best rebounders in Michael Jacobson and Ed Morrow, Jr.

Jeriah Horne and Nick Fuller also transferred out at the end of last season.

Through all of the departures and outside criticism, Miles is confident that the newcomers on this season’s roster can deliver the hungry fans a successful season.

“We all felt awful, just like everybody did,” Miles said. “Do you question yourself? Well, sure you do. At the same time, you know how to work. I still believe in what we’re doing. I still believe in our recipe, and I know it works. I believe Nebraska is a great place to build a family and a basketball program, a great place for student-athletes to be, and I think we can win.”

Miles has four new freshmen on this year’s roster and a number of transfers that are eligible this season, including Jr. F Isaac Copeland (Georgetown), Jr. G James Palmer (Miami) who sat out last season, and Sr. C Duby Okeke (Winthrop).

Anton Gill, who only played in 12 games last season after hurting his knee in a Christmas Day practice, is back fully healthy and has lost 12 pounds, according to Miles.

“He’s skinny now, but I like him,” Miles said. “He’s fast.”

Nebraska also returns five players from last year’s team who have starting experience, including So. F Isaiah Roby.

“I had (Roby) in my office and I said, ‘you can play the 1, the 3, the 4 or the 5 and I might play you at any of them,’” Miles said. “I asked him, ‘are you okay with that?’ And he said, ‘Coach, whatever you gotta do.’”

Roby averaged 3.1 points and 2.9 rebounds per game last season, playing mostly at small forward, or “the 3” spot.

Nebraska opens its season on Nov. 7 with an exhibition match against Northwood (Michigan) University at Pinnacle Bank Arena. A full schedule can be viewed here.

You can contact Tommy at 402-840-5226, or you can follow him on Twitter @Tommy_KLIN.