Archie Miller Is Acing First Big Tests At Indiana

Archie Miller has a huge task in front of him at Indiana, as the school’s fanbase expects to be in contention for national championships every year. While that may be an unreachable goal, Miller has hit the ground running in Bloomington and has nailed every test he’s been given so far.

On Thursday, Miller’s staff was officially announced and when he said he was going to surround himself with great coaches, he wasn’t lying. Bruiser Flint, Tom Ostrom and Ed Schilling will be his assistant coaches, while Bill Comar, Ben Sander and former IU player Derek Elston will make up a portion of his support staff.

Flint is the former head coach at UMass and just finished a 15-year stretch at Drexel, where he was a four-time Colonial Athletic Association Coach of the Year. Ostrom worked with Miller at Dayton for six years, but also spent time at Arkansas, South Alabama and Florida. He’s noted for his recruiting prowess. Schilling is a native of Indiana and spent years as a high school coach in the state before joining Steve Alford’s staff at UCLA in 2014. His in-state ties will help the Hoosiers’ attempts to recruit the state as his connections in Indiana run deep.

That is a fantastic staff that ranks up there with the best the Big Ten has to offer. While working on that he’s also getting Indiana basketball’s social media game up to speed, posting videos of workouts the team has been going through:

" No days off ? #iubb https://t.co/PW28VOK0cN — Indiana Basketball (@IndianaMBB) April 7, 2017 "

Miller has also done work convincing the current roster of his vision. While OG Anunoby has announced his decision to enter the draft and hire an agent, that was expected before the 2016-17 season even began. Thomas Bryant, Robert Johnson and James Blackmon Jr. have all put their names in, but none will hire an agent, giving them the ability to return to school. It wouldn’t be shocking if all three returned.

Meanwhile, key veterans Juwan Morgan, Collin Hartman, De'Ron Davis and Josh Newkirk have all committed to return, giving Miller a good foundation to build from. It’s expected that Devonte Green, Curtis Jones will both be back as well, giving the team solid depth and talent in the backcourt.

Miller has also done work on the recruiting trail during his first few weeks on the job. He has convinced guard Al Durham and uber-talented wing Justin Smith to re-affirm their commitments to Indiana. Both should be on campus this summer. Pennsylvania big man Clifton Moore has met with Miller but has not announced his intentions. The new head coach has also been in contact with some of Indiana’s top prospects for 2018 and has already begun working on getting them to campus. In the meantime he’s hit the trail and will be visiting many of them in person this week.

Indiana has a notoriously fickle fanbase that can find fault with the smallest details. So far, Miller has given Hoosier Nation nothing to complain about.