Nebraska basketball has hired Tim Miles as its next Men’s Basketball Coach.  Miles comes to NU after five years at Colorado State.  His tenure at CSU culminated with the Rams’ appearance as an 11 seed in this year’s NCAA tournament.  They lost to Murray State after having a 24-23 lead at half time.  After watching the press conference I am excited about this hire.

This is not the splash some might have hoped for but it is going to work.  Miles seems to generate enough energy that he alone could power NU’s campus in the event of a snow storm.  That energy will be needed.  Reading through his tweets will confirm what you saw at the presser.  He has a quick wit and a sharp mind.  He is someone who shows a self deprecating humor but his vision and determination to succeed are not very far under that surface.  Frankly, he seems to be just what NU needs.

Of course, that has been said before.  But for those Husker fans thinking that this is more of the same for NU; it is not.  The calls for NU to depart from raiding the mid-major ranks for it’s next coach have been made.  But while this hire may seem to be more of the same there is a key difference in this hire:  Tim Miles has been in charge of his own program for years.  He didn’t simply have two or three good years at a mid-major program (often after taking over after having served as an assistant to someone else who actually built the mid-major program) only to make the jump as the next hot coach.  Miles has built multiple programs into winners, from the ground up, and he has the mediocre career record to prove it.

To me this experience is exactly what NU needed.  Miles knows what it means to operate from a disadvantage.  But, as he said, he has succeeded in overcoming those disadvantages at every step.  He has spent his entire career as an architect of basketball programs.  I believe he will construct NU into a winner.