Indiana University Athletics
Indiana Basketball Hosts Virtual Media Day
10/13/2020 6:04:00 PM | Men's Basketball
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Indiana men's basketball hosted its virtual media day on Tuesday with head coach Archie Miller and student-athletes taking part in press conferences. Below is a video and transcript.
Head Coach Archie Miller
Opening Statement: Good to see everybody in this unique way to start the season. We are excited, a lot like probably everybody, to get the official start, like everybody else in college basketball going. We have been anxious, like a lot of people, to get back together and have real purpose in front of us, for the most part. We are still working through a lot of uncertainty in terms of scheduling events and there are a lot of unanswered questions. But the fact that our guys are going to be together, we are getting ready to take on this climb, to me, that is what this is all about. I know that our players are excited to get back to the everyday business with each other. They have been at their best when they are with each other. Being able to handle this with this group this year is going to be something that we remember for a long time due to the circumstances that we are all under. Without further ado, I guess we will open it up. If there is anything that I can help with, I will do it.
Q. On importance of an experienced team in a unique season…
MILLER: I think there are a lot of different types of teams out there. There are teams with a lot of newcomers, teams with a lot of veterans, but how you handle what is thrown at you really comes down to your leadership. I think we have some guys here that have been a part of a lot of big games, been a part of a lot of college basketball experience and know what that feels like. To have that at your disposal, as a coach, you hope that plays a role in a positive way. With that being said, every team is different. At the end of the day, winning and losing, playing minutes, making shots and missing shots all plays a role in how you evolve. By any indication of how the season ended a year ago, how our guys have handled themselves when they were away, how we have handled ourselves since we first got started back and as the school year has unraveled in front of us, week by week, how we have handled our business gives me a pretty good indication that our team is about the right things. We do have good leadership. Our young players are here for the right reasons. Improvement has been on the forefront of everyone's mind at all stages of time, from the end of the year until right now. Now we have to put that together. We have to be always about the team approach, defining roles and getting all of that stuff sorted out to be at our best early. We are unsure right now that the schedule we put forth in April was built for a very specific reason and built around certain games that you know you have. It is constantly changing. It is changing still to this minute. What we have to do is be ready on Nov. 25th to jump the ball. I think that is the most important thing. Take away the things you cannot control, eliminate the things that distract you from the thing that is most important, which is, at the end of the day, how much better are we going to be now than we were a year ago when we finished as individuals and as a group? How much different can we be between now and the 25th when we jump ball? There is a lot of challenges that go into that with the lack of preseason, the lack of non-conference and lack of exhibition-type opportunities. It is a little bit unique. It is going to get revved up from day one. We are going to have to mow through it with a lot of different types of speed bumps that are along the way that are coming that we do not see and probably anticipate happening. At the end of the day, we have to be on a quest to be ready for the first day. When that happens, we have to take inventory day-by-day and keep building and be ready to move to the next one, whether that is the Maui event being moved to Asheville, coming out of that and heading on the road to an ACC Challenge game or with very few home opportunities available in general. We do not know, quite frankly, how it is set in stone, but we do know that on the 25th we do have to be the most-ready team. I think that is the quest. As we talk to our guy through the entire preseason, the rest of October heading into November, that is what it is about. It is about preparing, being ready and stay hungry for that one opportunity so when they say 'go' you can go and we are ready to go. That has been the focus from day one. We have really hung our hat on the everyday approach. The players have done a good job of hanging in there with it. I like where we are at as we get ready to start tomorrow.
Q. On Jerome Hunter…
MILLER: Let me say this about Jerome, he had a well-documented season-ending injury as a freshman. In a unique way, that injury, that setback, that he had was different in a lot of ways. As much of it was an injury, it was trial and error of what he could and could not do. As we went into last year, we had our fingers crossed and we were really hoping Jerome would get that opportunity on the floor. Once he established that he was going to be available every day, working hard at it every day, then it became a reality of this guy is a true freshman. Not only was he a true freshman on the floor in terms of experience, but he had been out a significant amount of time from the game. As an athlete, he was out from competing and doing things. He had a tough recovery. With the team that we had a year ago, you fended for yourself a little bit, tried to work your way in there and tried to take advantage of your opportunities when you got the opportunity to get in. He did that. I thought right around January we were at a crossroads in trying to figure out what we could get out of Jerome. I think that the Ohio State game at home was an opportunity for him to grab ahold of more minutes. Once he did that, he showed that he was not afraid, he was tough and that if he could stay with it over the course of the next so many months, he could help our team. I think that is what you saw. You saw a young guy, in a very difficult league, grow up and try to get better. Towards the end of the year he shot the ball much more consistently, defensively, he was a work-in-progress all year, but his intentions and effort were always good. He made big plays for us at times when we needed them. From a confidence perspective, he finished the year on a high. It was almost a sense of relief, like 'oh, wow, I did it. I got through it.' Now it is 'I am ready to take a bigger bite out of the apple.' I think that is where he is at. We talked a lot about his ballhandling, talked a lot about his physical conditioning and his ability to rehabilitate his body in the time off that he had. He has to be bigger and stronger. We talked very early in the spring about being able to handle a more of a load, learning more in terms of being able to play inside and out. He embraced that, and since he has been back, he is back to being the old Jerome. He loves the game; he has a smile on his face. When he messes up, he looks at you and says 'yes sir, coach' and he moves on. I think that is what we love about him is that he loves the game. He is a good team guy. He is the type of guy that, as a coach, you love being around in the heat of the moment because he is giving great effort. Right now, he is really heading in a good direction. Like all of our players, we are waiting for that next speed bump. In the back of our minds, we are always thinking about how Jerome's health is paramount. He is going to play a big role on this team. He has to play a big role. He has to grow up as a second-year player and has to be much more of a consistent shooter and a more consistent defender for us. Without question, I think he will be able to give us the versatility to play small or big and be better at it than he was a year ago. I think he has the confidence, he is out there every day, that he feels like a good basketball player again, not a player that is learning to be a good basketball player again. A lot of guys have been in his shoes, suffered injuries and had setbacks, but you have to come back from it. He did it at a unique time where he had never played before in college. As he paid his dues, he got to see that if you stick with it, good things happen. Now, he has to start that way and continue to grow. He will play a big role on this team, without question. To me, as the coach, right now I look at him as one of the guys that I can trust that can get out there in game two against Providence or whoever it might be. He has been in these types of games before and he can get out there and do it. I feel good about Jerome. From a setback perspective, we are not really concerned with that right now. It is always in the back of your mind, but he is full-go right now. Like every guy, he has to be mindful and take care of himself.
Q. On preparation without knowing the schedule…
MILLER: If wish I had an answer for you. How do you plan when you do not know? I guess that is the million-dollar question. How do you control what you cannot control? I cannot control a lot of the things because a lot of the decision makers in putting some things in stone for us, are above us. The control of our schedule left when the pandemic hit. I think it was inevitable that there would be some setbacks once they changed the starting date. Everyone in college basketball lost, I think, four games. When you lose four games, it changes the complexion of things. For Indiana, it is a little different. You are obligated to play in the ACC Challenge, the Gavitt Games in certain years, we are already in Maui and we have the Butler Crossroads game in stone. Those games are already in stone and usually we have dates, but we do not have those dates yet. You add in the complexity of a conference that is trying to maybe start earlier, maybe put more games on the frontside of December and early January, and you are squeezing things in and looking for dates. At the end of the day, you cannot jump one stone to get to the next until you have a definitive answer. Television plays a role, school plays a role, and there are health issues that the NCAA and certain events have to go through. The one thing that gives you a little bit of confidence is that we start practice tomorrow. Right now, we are planning on starting practice tomorrow and we know we have to be ready for Nov. 25th. If we have that game in stone on Nov. 25th, that is what we are getting ready for. We will let everything else fall into line the best we can. Every school, every coach, every team is dealing with some circumstance of uncertainty. We are not the only ones, so how we handle it is going to be the challenge. Can we do it better than other people do it? Right now, we cannot get caught up in the scheduling and the planning. We know, right now, we start tomorrow with practice. We know the 25th is our start date. How much better can we get from now and then? We will worry about the rest later.
Q. On the state of the Crossroads Classic and wanting higher assist numbers this season…
MILLER: The Crossroads, as I know it, is on. That date was set for Dec. 19. Other than the schools communicating in the offseason and throughout the early part of the year, some tweaks might be made as that date has an opportunity to move to a certain time that could benefit everyone now dealing with adjusted schedules. Those conversations have all been brought up and have happened. The Crossroads is going to happen, as far as I know. We are planning on being ready for that.
From an assist standpoint, a ball movement standpoint, number one playing more perimeter-oriented guys on the perimeter has to help that. The ballhandling, the passing, your IQ in terms of being able to play the game will hopefully lead to that. Some of our freshmen that are coming in are going to play a deeper role in the backcourt in the early part of the year, but as the season goes, we have a chance to evolve as a perimeter-oriented group that has some chemistry. The other thing with the assist totals is keeping the turnovers down. Probably more so than the assist totals, if our assists are up and our turnovers are down. The number one thing this team has to do this year to be successful is keep our turnovers down. We want to be one of the lowest turnover teams that we have ever had here. This team has to play, realistically in our league and with our schedule, this team cannot turn the ball over much more than 11 times per game, 10-11 times a game. It is so paramount to our efficiency, it is so paramount to extra points, free throws and just in general to the assist-turnover ratio. For a higher assist total, we will definitely spread the floor out, using mor guards, having more multiple ballhandlers with an opportunity to make a play off the bounce, off the dribble, off of ball screens will hopefully give us a little more opportunity and space to play. It will create more drives and more sharing of the ball. It is something that we have talked a lot about in the fall is how we move it, how we have to move it. We have to have an energy level on offense that exemplifies team and sharing. The one thing that I am consumed with this group is to cut the turnovers way down to an all-time low for this team. It is going to be tough. We have some young guys that are going to be in there, as well. I think that our competition level is going to be as tough as anyone in America top-to-bottom from the front end to the back end of the schedule. I think it will be a big reason as to why we are successful, is our turnovers.
Q. On what you see in Trayce Jackson-Davis and Joey Brunk and a story about them…
MILLER: When you look at both of them the one thing that they have in common is the terrific, coachable team guy, I mean regardless or their stature or their age. Trayce being a freshman last year, Joe being a fourth-year college student, both of them really embraced the everyday process. They want to do well by their coaches. They want to do well by their teammates. They care deeply about winning. One of the big reasons why our team was able to break through at certain stages last year and not fold at times or find a way at the end of the year to be playing their best, you know, you have two guys that were added to our locker room in those two. It's not like Armaan (Franklin) wasn't a part of it as well in a big way but those two guys in general are locker room guys. They're guys that everyone around the team respects and likes. I think when you have that type of relationship with two guys that play a lot of minutes, it speaks volumes. It gives other guys an opportunity to feel good about themselves and want to play with them and want to be around them. Both guys are competitive. Both guys work very hard. I think the big thing is they're very coachable and they're really good teammates regardless of what they did on game day. They don't blink. They care about winning. I think that's the best attribute I can give both guys. One's young; one's a little bit older. I think they're both the same in that regard is they came here to win. I'm glad both of them are here. In terms of those two guys, I think my first memory of them both would've been one guy's relatively an adult in terms of his age and his experience level in school. Then you have Trayce who's a young guy. He's a freshman. They kind of came here at the same time and it was kind of like they were both new and they gravitated toward one another right away. When they went home, Trayce was working out with Joe or Joe was with Trayce working out. They come back to school, they were together. As we started to do our summer work last summer and whatnot, you could tell that those two had parted it up a little bit in terms of they were here. They were here for the right reasons. End of the day, I couldn't ask for better leadership or role model right away for Trayce to be around. At the same time as Joe arrived, I think he probably needed to look around and see a guy like Trayce that wanted to be with him. His first opportunity to be at Indiana, man, the incoming guys, they got a really good reputation and name and he wanted to be around Joe. I think both of them are really good for one another. They have a great relationship. They work really hard. I think even to this day, when they're home over the pandemic time, they would get together. Social injustice happens. You're in downtown Indianapolis and Trayce and Joey go together. I think they're more than just basketball teammates. I think they genuinely really respect each other. They like one another. I think that's the thing I probably went back to on the first part of this question was what do they bring to the table. They bring chemistry, man. Guys want to be around guys like that. You don't want to be around people that suck the air out of the locker room every other day. Those two guys are good guys man. They're good teammates and they're here for the right reasons. They want to win and I think just in general two newcomers to the lineup last year came in right away and made a big impact.
Q. On your thoughts immediately after beating Nebraska and once the season got canceled…
MILLER: I would say heading to Indianapolis for the Big Ten Tournament our team was very motivated. They had come off a very, very tough game against Wisconsin at home over the weekend. Felt like we needed to play well in the Big Ten Tournament to find a way to have some confidence to play in the NCAA Tournament well. We knew that if we went to the Big Ten Tournament in Indianapolis and we performed that we would have an opportunity to really grab momentum and do some things. We put you in a position not only to advance in that tournament but if you can advance in that tournament, you can advance in any tournament. The league is so difficult. As we approached it, I don't think that in remembering the bus ride to Indy or heading to the hotel for preparation for Nebraska or game day or heading over to IUPUI to practice that we were real worried about the pandemic, now what is COVID pandemic. At that time there were some things being discussed. As you can probably imagine we weren't really focused on it a ton. As we started to approach the game, I think it started to become a little bit more serious and I think people were wondering if the tournament would inevitably have to be canceled or would we be able to finish it or the talk of fans not coming in. There started to be that distraction. Unfortunately, with Fred (Hoiberg), he got sick the day of the game. When we approached the arena, the very first thing I think I was told as I entered the arena was 'Hey, just want to give you a heads up. Coach Hoiberg isn't feeling well'" I was like, 'Not good for him. Is he going to coach?' 'Yeah, I think he's going to coach. He's going to be alright.'
If you'd look at it now and if you said a guy is sick in a game or he was going to come coach in a game sick now seven months later you would of been like holy cow. What were we risking at the time? What was Fred risking at the time? Thankfully there wasn't anything there. Fred was good. I just think if that game unfolded, as soon as it ended. I can remember as soon as it ended four or five people coming right up to me and telling me about the NBA season being postponed heading into the hallway getting ready to talk to our team. Hey, let's clean up and get out of her as soon as we possibly can. Let's get back to the hotel where we can be with each other and we'll take some inventory. We have Penn State tomorrow. Going to the press conference and talking to Andy Katz and talking to a lot of other people I started to get the sense of "Oh boy, this is a little bit more serious than I gave credit for." Low and behold, very early morning prepping for Penn State, it didn't take very long for the news to kind of come in with the game wasn't going to go on. I think that was the first sense of disappointment that being able to tell the guys that we weren't going to play Penn State the next day. I mean you win in Indianapolis in front of a great crowd. The Big Ten Tournament is underway. You're excited for that. You knew that there was a lot that you could've done. We told our team, "Fellas, this one's over but we got the big one coming up. We'll wait and give you some plans when we get back. We'll have a meeting. We'll have a watch party. We'll make sure we know where were heading. We'll get off to the tournament. This says the spoiler probably came. We didn't even get to deliver that news. It came on the cell phones on the bus. It went from a very, very somber bus to the reality of everyone was going to go home and we weren't real sure when they were coming back. That's sort of how it ended. Devonte (Green) and De'Ron (Davis), those two guys they were going to finish out their school year all of a sudden. They were going to be on their way. The team got together I think maybe one more time. Was able to get together one more time before we departed and talked at that point in time pretty personally about our year, what the two seniors had meant to the team and the season, how far we had come, to be proud of some of the things that we had done and at the end of the day there's a lot to look forward to in terms of improvement. We departed. As you know, 14-15 weeks later they had just gotten back in June. It was an overwhelming, fast I guess 24-36 hours but really when you think about what happened we went from the ultimate optimism of having a great opportunity to play in the best time of college basketball to 36 hours later of not knowing when the guys are going to come back to school. It was difficult.
I think that's why we're so thankful that number one we were able to get our guys back in June. I think we're also very thankful for how we've been treated since we've come back to school and I also think our guys take it serious right now that, man, this thing could be taken away from us in like five seconds if you don't do what you're supposed to do. There's a lot of responsibility in keeping it going. I think everybody realizes that. It's so good to be back and it's so good to be together. I think that taste in your mouth, so to speak, of the disappointment in the end of the season and how things unfolded, you know, hopefully, we can give you some realistic expectations of yourself right now and how important it is to stay with it and do the right things and let's get this thing going. Let's see how far we can take it and let's enjoy it. I hate to tell you, you don't ever want to be on that bus or in that locker room, no coach does, when they tell you that you can't play anymore when you have so much more in front of you still. For the young guys, the players, a lot them these are some of the biggest games they'll ever play in. Some of the greatest moments they'll ever have in basketball. Definitely a whirlwind. Disappointing, probably like everybody else. I can remember the day very vividly probably a lot like a lot of other people do, the day that college basketball pretty much stopped. We were one of the last games that was probably able to be completed. It was definitely a different, different day.
Q. On the versatility of the roster…
MILLER: I think we're always on a quest to have versatility and skill in what we're doing. Like I said before, I do think for this group to be successful, we have to have a lot of different type of versatility offensively. Defensively, you're going to be able to do some things, scheme-wise regardless of who's on the floor with that team. You have to play hard. From an offensive standpoint, the bursts of speed, the opportunity to give guys some space and play around Trayce, get Trayce to play with Joe, Race, Jerome can be in there as a smaller forward, Jordan. But to be able to have Rob with Khristian and Al on the floor at the same time, although not ideal, but maybe they're your best offensive player on any given night. So definitely giving them the freedom to be able to play together more, having different combinations of lineups. And also keeping things simple where you don't have to learn a ton. Don't have to learn a ton, a ton of stuff. So you're always thinking. I think we want our guys to be aggressive in their role and play that way, but it's a team that if it does reach its potential, it will be one of the great strengths that we have is not only versatility, but I think a lot of different guys can contribute in a lot of ways.
Q. On how the student-athletes are protecting themselves on campus…
MILLER: Good question. I think that everyone handles it differently and everyone communicates differently. For us, our guys know that in our space, in our so-to-speak technically soft bubble, whatever you want to say that's where you're going to be the most safe. That's where the facility protocol – distancing, masks – guys are going to be on top of you if you're not doing it. It's not going to work. Not so you're always in an environment when you're training or with each other, it's trying to be done right. When you leave, it's up to you so to speak, but it's also up to your teammates as well. You have to protect the team. And I think, you know, protecting the team, puts you in a situation where you have to make good decisions with who you're with. when you're with them. If you're in a large group of people and you can't help it, you have to put a mask on. That's common protocol. I mean, if you're not in a group of people that you know, in a dorm room or whatnot, you probably shouldn't be there. It's the time that you're in and responsibility and sacrifice that you have that if you want to play. If you don't want to play, you have to do what everybody else is doing but don't expect it to work because you're not going to be able to come back into that facility, you're not going to be able to function on a day basis if you don't treat it the right way.
So for our guys, I think they've done a good job. Classes are a little different this year. Probably 75 or 80% of them are more virtual. They're not out and about on the campus from nine to five every day like you normally would be. So they're a little more contained there. From an academic standpoint, it's a lot more Zoom, it's a lot less face-to-face tutor sessions, that protects them a little bit more. How IU has set up the student-athlete areas in terms of eating - when you can eat, how you have to operate with food, no buffet style. The training room rules are different, so they've gotten accustomed in getting used to it a little bit away from us that they have to be able to kind of have their own routine. I think the good thing about our guys that I used to think 'this is probably this is nerve-wracking, this is bad' is that they all live together. So they're always around each other, they have one another and they can hold each other accountable in the areas that are after hours or whatnot. If a guy has to be addressed and you have to stop it, it's going to be up to you to protect each other because it impacts everybody. We try to do that the best we can. But just in general, it comes down to the bottom line - we want to have a season. If we want to have a season, we're going to have to do things as careful as we possibly can. No one's perfect and it's not a very easy situation in normal everyday society to avoid people or avoid situations, especially young people. But you're different. And they always tell you ' you'll be held to a different standard'. I think the standard that you have to hold each other to is if you want to represent Indiana on the court, you want to be a part of college basketball, we're going to have to do things off the floor that are more important than on the floor. I will say this though – since this whole thing started and until today, like I just said this to Scott Dolson earlier, we can't thank our administration from our President to Scott to Fred before he left, to our doctors and our medical team and to all of our trainers for the time and effort that it's taken to get Indiana running our operation as an athletic department and particularly when it comes to men's basketball, giving us a chance to be successful. They're doing everything in their power on a weekly basis to help our guys, to help our staff, to help all the teams in general, but most importantly, when it comes to us because that's what I can speak to, is they've done an amazing job of educating us, helping us and caring for everyone when things don't go well. And I think that that just sort of speaks to what we have going on here. As the season continues to get closer, the one thing I can fall back on, we've got great medical expertise. We have a great training staff, Tim Garl is an absolute stud when it comes down to handling our guys. And Scott like I said in his administration since the start of the school year, it's been all hands on deck. And I can't thank them enough because there's a lot of schools, a lot of great programs, a lot of great coaches and players that are struggling all around the country with different problems, different this and that. From my standpoint, they've done everything in their power to give us a shot to be successful. So that's all you can ask for when it comes to this thing to be honest with you.
Head Coach Archie Miller
Opening Statement: Good to see everybody in this unique way to start the season. We are excited, a lot like probably everybody, to get the official start, like everybody else in college basketball going. We have been anxious, like a lot of people, to get back together and have real purpose in front of us, for the most part. We are still working through a lot of uncertainty in terms of scheduling events and there are a lot of unanswered questions. But the fact that our guys are going to be together, we are getting ready to take on this climb, to me, that is what this is all about. I know that our players are excited to get back to the everyday business with each other. They have been at their best when they are with each other. Being able to handle this with this group this year is going to be something that we remember for a long time due to the circumstances that we are all under. Without further ado, I guess we will open it up. If there is anything that I can help with, I will do it.
Q. On importance of an experienced team in a unique season…
MILLER: I think there are a lot of different types of teams out there. There are teams with a lot of newcomers, teams with a lot of veterans, but how you handle what is thrown at you really comes down to your leadership. I think we have some guys here that have been a part of a lot of big games, been a part of a lot of college basketball experience and know what that feels like. To have that at your disposal, as a coach, you hope that plays a role in a positive way. With that being said, every team is different. At the end of the day, winning and losing, playing minutes, making shots and missing shots all plays a role in how you evolve. By any indication of how the season ended a year ago, how our guys have handled themselves when they were away, how we have handled ourselves since we first got started back and as the school year has unraveled in front of us, week by week, how we have handled our business gives me a pretty good indication that our team is about the right things. We do have good leadership. Our young players are here for the right reasons. Improvement has been on the forefront of everyone's mind at all stages of time, from the end of the year until right now. Now we have to put that together. We have to be always about the team approach, defining roles and getting all of that stuff sorted out to be at our best early. We are unsure right now that the schedule we put forth in April was built for a very specific reason and built around certain games that you know you have. It is constantly changing. It is changing still to this minute. What we have to do is be ready on Nov. 25th to jump the ball. I think that is the most important thing. Take away the things you cannot control, eliminate the things that distract you from the thing that is most important, which is, at the end of the day, how much better are we going to be now than we were a year ago when we finished as individuals and as a group? How much different can we be between now and the 25th when we jump ball? There is a lot of challenges that go into that with the lack of preseason, the lack of non-conference and lack of exhibition-type opportunities. It is a little bit unique. It is going to get revved up from day one. We are going to have to mow through it with a lot of different types of speed bumps that are along the way that are coming that we do not see and probably anticipate happening. At the end of the day, we have to be on a quest to be ready for the first day. When that happens, we have to take inventory day-by-day and keep building and be ready to move to the next one, whether that is the Maui event being moved to Asheville, coming out of that and heading on the road to an ACC Challenge game or with very few home opportunities available in general. We do not know, quite frankly, how it is set in stone, but we do know that on the 25th we do have to be the most-ready team. I think that is the quest. As we talk to our guy through the entire preseason, the rest of October heading into November, that is what it is about. It is about preparing, being ready and stay hungry for that one opportunity so when they say 'go' you can go and we are ready to go. That has been the focus from day one. We have really hung our hat on the everyday approach. The players have done a good job of hanging in there with it. I like where we are at as we get ready to start tomorrow.
Q. On Jerome Hunter…
MILLER: Let me say this about Jerome, he had a well-documented season-ending injury as a freshman. In a unique way, that injury, that setback, that he had was different in a lot of ways. As much of it was an injury, it was trial and error of what he could and could not do. As we went into last year, we had our fingers crossed and we were really hoping Jerome would get that opportunity on the floor. Once he established that he was going to be available every day, working hard at it every day, then it became a reality of this guy is a true freshman. Not only was he a true freshman on the floor in terms of experience, but he had been out a significant amount of time from the game. As an athlete, he was out from competing and doing things. He had a tough recovery. With the team that we had a year ago, you fended for yourself a little bit, tried to work your way in there and tried to take advantage of your opportunities when you got the opportunity to get in. He did that. I thought right around January we were at a crossroads in trying to figure out what we could get out of Jerome. I think that the Ohio State game at home was an opportunity for him to grab ahold of more minutes. Once he did that, he showed that he was not afraid, he was tough and that if he could stay with it over the course of the next so many months, he could help our team. I think that is what you saw. You saw a young guy, in a very difficult league, grow up and try to get better. Towards the end of the year he shot the ball much more consistently, defensively, he was a work-in-progress all year, but his intentions and effort were always good. He made big plays for us at times when we needed them. From a confidence perspective, he finished the year on a high. It was almost a sense of relief, like 'oh, wow, I did it. I got through it.' Now it is 'I am ready to take a bigger bite out of the apple.' I think that is where he is at. We talked a lot about his ballhandling, talked a lot about his physical conditioning and his ability to rehabilitate his body in the time off that he had. He has to be bigger and stronger. We talked very early in the spring about being able to handle a more of a load, learning more in terms of being able to play inside and out. He embraced that, and since he has been back, he is back to being the old Jerome. He loves the game; he has a smile on his face. When he messes up, he looks at you and says 'yes sir, coach' and he moves on. I think that is what we love about him is that he loves the game. He is a good team guy. He is the type of guy that, as a coach, you love being around in the heat of the moment because he is giving great effort. Right now, he is really heading in a good direction. Like all of our players, we are waiting for that next speed bump. In the back of our minds, we are always thinking about how Jerome's health is paramount. He is going to play a big role on this team. He has to play a big role. He has to grow up as a second-year player and has to be much more of a consistent shooter and a more consistent defender for us. Without question, I think he will be able to give us the versatility to play small or big and be better at it than he was a year ago. I think he has the confidence, he is out there every day, that he feels like a good basketball player again, not a player that is learning to be a good basketball player again. A lot of guys have been in his shoes, suffered injuries and had setbacks, but you have to come back from it. He did it at a unique time where he had never played before in college. As he paid his dues, he got to see that if you stick with it, good things happen. Now, he has to start that way and continue to grow. He will play a big role on this team, without question. To me, as the coach, right now I look at him as one of the guys that I can trust that can get out there in game two against Providence or whoever it might be. He has been in these types of games before and he can get out there and do it. I feel good about Jerome. From a setback perspective, we are not really concerned with that right now. It is always in the back of your mind, but he is full-go right now. Like every guy, he has to be mindful and take care of himself.
Q. On preparation without knowing the schedule…
MILLER: If wish I had an answer for you. How do you plan when you do not know? I guess that is the million-dollar question. How do you control what you cannot control? I cannot control a lot of the things because a lot of the decision makers in putting some things in stone for us, are above us. The control of our schedule left when the pandemic hit. I think it was inevitable that there would be some setbacks once they changed the starting date. Everyone in college basketball lost, I think, four games. When you lose four games, it changes the complexion of things. For Indiana, it is a little different. You are obligated to play in the ACC Challenge, the Gavitt Games in certain years, we are already in Maui and we have the Butler Crossroads game in stone. Those games are already in stone and usually we have dates, but we do not have those dates yet. You add in the complexity of a conference that is trying to maybe start earlier, maybe put more games on the frontside of December and early January, and you are squeezing things in and looking for dates. At the end of the day, you cannot jump one stone to get to the next until you have a definitive answer. Television plays a role, school plays a role, and there are health issues that the NCAA and certain events have to go through. The one thing that gives you a little bit of confidence is that we start practice tomorrow. Right now, we are planning on starting practice tomorrow and we know we have to be ready for Nov. 25th. If we have that game in stone on Nov. 25th, that is what we are getting ready for. We will let everything else fall into line the best we can. Every school, every coach, every team is dealing with some circumstance of uncertainty. We are not the only ones, so how we handle it is going to be the challenge. Can we do it better than other people do it? Right now, we cannot get caught up in the scheduling and the planning. We know, right now, we start tomorrow with practice. We know the 25th is our start date. How much better can we get from now and then? We will worry about the rest later.
Q. On the state of the Crossroads Classic and wanting higher assist numbers this season…
MILLER: The Crossroads, as I know it, is on. That date was set for Dec. 19. Other than the schools communicating in the offseason and throughout the early part of the year, some tweaks might be made as that date has an opportunity to move to a certain time that could benefit everyone now dealing with adjusted schedules. Those conversations have all been brought up and have happened. The Crossroads is going to happen, as far as I know. We are planning on being ready for that.
From an assist standpoint, a ball movement standpoint, number one playing more perimeter-oriented guys on the perimeter has to help that. The ballhandling, the passing, your IQ in terms of being able to play the game will hopefully lead to that. Some of our freshmen that are coming in are going to play a deeper role in the backcourt in the early part of the year, but as the season goes, we have a chance to evolve as a perimeter-oriented group that has some chemistry. The other thing with the assist totals is keeping the turnovers down. Probably more so than the assist totals, if our assists are up and our turnovers are down. The number one thing this team has to do this year to be successful is keep our turnovers down. We want to be one of the lowest turnover teams that we have ever had here. This team has to play, realistically in our league and with our schedule, this team cannot turn the ball over much more than 11 times per game, 10-11 times a game. It is so paramount to our efficiency, it is so paramount to extra points, free throws and just in general to the assist-turnover ratio. For a higher assist total, we will definitely spread the floor out, using mor guards, having more multiple ballhandlers with an opportunity to make a play off the bounce, off the dribble, off of ball screens will hopefully give us a little more opportunity and space to play. It will create more drives and more sharing of the ball. It is something that we have talked a lot about in the fall is how we move it, how we have to move it. We have to have an energy level on offense that exemplifies team and sharing. The one thing that I am consumed with this group is to cut the turnovers way down to an all-time low for this team. It is going to be tough. We have some young guys that are going to be in there, as well. I think that our competition level is going to be as tough as anyone in America top-to-bottom from the front end to the back end of the schedule. I think it will be a big reason as to why we are successful, is our turnovers.
Q. On what you see in Trayce Jackson-Davis and Joey Brunk and a story about them…
MILLER: When you look at both of them the one thing that they have in common is the terrific, coachable team guy, I mean regardless or their stature or their age. Trayce being a freshman last year, Joe being a fourth-year college student, both of them really embraced the everyday process. They want to do well by their coaches. They want to do well by their teammates. They care deeply about winning. One of the big reasons why our team was able to break through at certain stages last year and not fold at times or find a way at the end of the year to be playing their best, you know, you have two guys that were added to our locker room in those two. It's not like Armaan (Franklin) wasn't a part of it as well in a big way but those two guys in general are locker room guys. They're guys that everyone around the team respects and likes. I think when you have that type of relationship with two guys that play a lot of minutes, it speaks volumes. It gives other guys an opportunity to feel good about themselves and want to play with them and want to be around them. Both guys are competitive. Both guys work very hard. I think the big thing is they're very coachable and they're really good teammates regardless of what they did on game day. They don't blink. They care about winning. I think that's the best attribute I can give both guys. One's young; one's a little bit older. I think they're both the same in that regard is they came here to win. I'm glad both of them are here. In terms of those two guys, I think my first memory of them both would've been one guy's relatively an adult in terms of his age and his experience level in school. Then you have Trayce who's a young guy. He's a freshman. They kind of came here at the same time and it was kind of like they were both new and they gravitated toward one another right away. When they went home, Trayce was working out with Joe or Joe was with Trayce working out. They come back to school, they were together. As we started to do our summer work last summer and whatnot, you could tell that those two had parted it up a little bit in terms of they were here. They were here for the right reasons. End of the day, I couldn't ask for better leadership or role model right away for Trayce to be around. At the same time as Joe arrived, I think he probably needed to look around and see a guy like Trayce that wanted to be with him. His first opportunity to be at Indiana, man, the incoming guys, they got a really good reputation and name and he wanted to be around Joe. I think both of them are really good for one another. They have a great relationship. They work really hard. I think even to this day, when they're home over the pandemic time, they would get together. Social injustice happens. You're in downtown Indianapolis and Trayce and Joey go together. I think they're more than just basketball teammates. I think they genuinely really respect each other. They like one another. I think that's the thing I probably went back to on the first part of this question was what do they bring to the table. They bring chemistry, man. Guys want to be around guys like that. You don't want to be around people that suck the air out of the locker room every other day. Those two guys are good guys man. They're good teammates and they're here for the right reasons. They want to win and I think just in general two newcomers to the lineup last year came in right away and made a big impact.
Q. On your thoughts immediately after beating Nebraska and once the season got canceled…
MILLER: I would say heading to Indianapolis for the Big Ten Tournament our team was very motivated. They had come off a very, very tough game against Wisconsin at home over the weekend. Felt like we needed to play well in the Big Ten Tournament to find a way to have some confidence to play in the NCAA Tournament well. We knew that if we went to the Big Ten Tournament in Indianapolis and we performed that we would have an opportunity to really grab momentum and do some things. We put you in a position not only to advance in that tournament but if you can advance in that tournament, you can advance in any tournament. The league is so difficult. As we approached it, I don't think that in remembering the bus ride to Indy or heading to the hotel for preparation for Nebraska or game day or heading over to IUPUI to practice that we were real worried about the pandemic, now what is COVID pandemic. At that time there were some things being discussed. As you can probably imagine we weren't really focused on it a ton. As we started to approach the game, I think it started to become a little bit more serious and I think people were wondering if the tournament would inevitably have to be canceled or would we be able to finish it or the talk of fans not coming in. There started to be that distraction. Unfortunately, with Fred (Hoiberg), he got sick the day of the game. When we approached the arena, the very first thing I think I was told as I entered the arena was 'Hey, just want to give you a heads up. Coach Hoiberg isn't feeling well'" I was like, 'Not good for him. Is he going to coach?' 'Yeah, I think he's going to coach. He's going to be alright.'
If you'd look at it now and if you said a guy is sick in a game or he was going to come coach in a game sick now seven months later you would of been like holy cow. What were we risking at the time? What was Fred risking at the time? Thankfully there wasn't anything there. Fred was good. I just think if that game unfolded, as soon as it ended. I can remember as soon as it ended four or five people coming right up to me and telling me about the NBA season being postponed heading into the hallway getting ready to talk to our team. Hey, let's clean up and get out of her as soon as we possibly can. Let's get back to the hotel where we can be with each other and we'll take some inventory. We have Penn State tomorrow. Going to the press conference and talking to Andy Katz and talking to a lot of other people I started to get the sense of "Oh boy, this is a little bit more serious than I gave credit for." Low and behold, very early morning prepping for Penn State, it didn't take very long for the news to kind of come in with the game wasn't going to go on. I think that was the first sense of disappointment that being able to tell the guys that we weren't going to play Penn State the next day. I mean you win in Indianapolis in front of a great crowd. The Big Ten Tournament is underway. You're excited for that. You knew that there was a lot that you could've done. We told our team, "Fellas, this one's over but we got the big one coming up. We'll wait and give you some plans when we get back. We'll have a meeting. We'll have a watch party. We'll make sure we know where were heading. We'll get off to the tournament. This says the spoiler probably came. We didn't even get to deliver that news. It came on the cell phones on the bus. It went from a very, very somber bus to the reality of everyone was going to go home and we weren't real sure when they were coming back. That's sort of how it ended. Devonte (Green) and De'Ron (Davis), those two guys they were going to finish out their school year all of a sudden. They were going to be on their way. The team got together I think maybe one more time. Was able to get together one more time before we departed and talked at that point in time pretty personally about our year, what the two seniors had meant to the team and the season, how far we had come, to be proud of some of the things that we had done and at the end of the day there's a lot to look forward to in terms of improvement. We departed. As you know, 14-15 weeks later they had just gotten back in June. It was an overwhelming, fast I guess 24-36 hours but really when you think about what happened we went from the ultimate optimism of having a great opportunity to play in the best time of college basketball to 36 hours later of not knowing when the guys are going to come back to school. It was difficult.
I think that's why we're so thankful that number one we were able to get our guys back in June. I think we're also very thankful for how we've been treated since we've come back to school and I also think our guys take it serious right now that, man, this thing could be taken away from us in like five seconds if you don't do what you're supposed to do. There's a lot of responsibility in keeping it going. I think everybody realizes that. It's so good to be back and it's so good to be together. I think that taste in your mouth, so to speak, of the disappointment in the end of the season and how things unfolded, you know, hopefully, we can give you some realistic expectations of yourself right now and how important it is to stay with it and do the right things and let's get this thing going. Let's see how far we can take it and let's enjoy it. I hate to tell you, you don't ever want to be on that bus or in that locker room, no coach does, when they tell you that you can't play anymore when you have so much more in front of you still. For the young guys, the players, a lot them these are some of the biggest games they'll ever play in. Some of the greatest moments they'll ever have in basketball. Definitely a whirlwind. Disappointing, probably like everybody else. I can remember the day very vividly probably a lot like a lot of other people do, the day that college basketball pretty much stopped. We were one of the last games that was probably able to be completed. It was definitely a different, different day.
Q. On the versatility of the roster…
MILLER: I think we're always on a quest to have versatility and skill in what we're doing. Like I said before, I do think for this group to be successful, we have to have a lot of different type of versatility offensively. Defensively, you're going to be able to do some things, scheme-wise regardless of who's on the floor with that team. You have to play hard. From an offensive standpoint, the bursts of speed, the opportunity to give guys some space and play around Trayce, get Trayce to play with Joe, Race, Jerome can be in there as a smaller forward, Jordan. But to be able to have Rob with Khristian and Al on the floor at the same time, although not ideal, but maybe they're your best offensive player on any given night. So definitely giving them the freedom to be able to play together more, having different combinations of lineups. And also keeping things simple where you don't have to learn a ton. Don't have to learn a ton, a ton of stuff. So you're always thinking. I think we want our guys to be aggressive in their role and play that way, but it's a team that if it does reach its potential, it will be one of the great strengths that we have is not only versatility, but I think a lot of different guys can contribute in a lot of ways.
Q. On how the student-athletes are protecting themselves on campus…
MILLER: Good question. I think that everyone handles it differently and everyone communicates differently. For us, our guys know that in our space, in our so-to-speak technically soft bubble, whatever you want to say that's where you're going to be the most safe. That's where the facility protocol – distancing, masks – guys are going to be on top of you if you're not doing it. It's not going to work. Not so you're always in an environment when you're training or with each other, it's trying to be done right. When you leave, it's up to you so to speak, but it's also up to your teammates as well. You have to protect the team. And I think, you know, protecting the team, puts you in a situation where you have to make good decisions with who you're with. when you're with them. If you're in a large group of people and you can't help it, you have to put a mask on. That's common protocol. I mean, if you're not in a group of people that you know, in a dorm room or whatnot, you probably shouldn't be there. It's the time that you're in and responsibility and sacrifice that you have that if you want to play. If you don't want to play, you have to do what everybody else is doing but don't expect it to work because you're not going to be able to come back into that facility, you're not going to be able to function on a day basis if you don't treat it the right way.
So for our guys, I think they've done a good job. Classes are a little different this year. Probably 75 or 80% of them are more virtual. They're not out and about on the campus from nine to five every day like you normally would be. So they're a little more contained there. From an academic standpoint, it's a lot more Zoom, it's a lot less face-to-face tutor sessions, that protects them a little bit more. How IU has set up the student-athlete areas in terms of eating - when you can eat, how you have to operate with food, no buffet style. The training room rules are different, so they've gotten accustomed in getting used to it a little bit away from us that they have to be able to kind of have their own routine. I think the good thing about our guys that I used to think 'this is probably this is nerve-wracking, this is bad' is that they all live together. So they're always around each other, they have one another and they can hold each other accountable in the areas that are after hours or whatnot. If a guy has to be addressed and you have to stop it, it's going to be up to you to protect each other because it impacts everybody. We try to do that the best we can. But just in general, it comes down to the bottom line - we want to have a season. If we want to have a season, we're going to have to do things as careful as we possibly can. No one's perfect and it's not a very easy situation in normal everyday society to avoid people or avoid situations, especially young people. But you're different. And they always tell you ' you'll be held to a different standard'. I think the standard that you have to hold each other to is if you want to represent Indiana on the court, you want to be a part of college basketball, we're going to have to do things off the floor that are more important than on the floor. I will say this though – since this whole thing started and until today, like I just said this to Scott Dolson earlier, we can't thank our administration from our President to Scott to Fred before he left, to our doctors and our medical team and to all of our trainers for the time and effort that it's taken to get Indiana running our operation as an athletic department and particularly when it comes to men's basketball, giving us a chance to be successful. They're doing everything in their power on a weekly basis to help our guys, to help our staff, to help all the teams in general, but most importantly, when it comes to us because that's what I can speak to, is they've done an amazing job of educating us, helping us and caring for everyone when things don't go well. And I think that that just sort of speaks to what we have going on here. As the season continues to get closer, the one thing I can fall back on, we've got great medical expertise. We have a great training staff, Tim Garl is an absolute stud when it comes down to handling our guys. And Scott like I said in his administration since the start of the school year, it's been all hands on deck. And I can't thank them enough because there's a lot of schools, a lot of great programs, a lot of great coaches and players that are struggling all around the country with different problems, different this and that. From my standpoint, they've done everything in their power to give us a shot to be successful. So that's all you can ask for when it comes to this thing to be honest with you.
Players Mentioned
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/ Men's BasketballFB: Nico Radicic - Spring Practice No. 11
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FB: Drew Evans - Spring Practice No. 11
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