Archie Miller Joins A.J. Guyton on House of Hoosier Podcast
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Archie Miller joined A.J. Guyton's House of Hoosier Podcast this week to talk all things Indiana basketball and his upbringing.
Miller talked about growing up in the Miller household, surrounded by football and basketball in western Pennsylvania.
Miller's dad was a basketball coach. Both Archie and his brother Sean played basketball, and even one of his sisters played basketball in college.
"We were in a household where basketball became the number one priority."
Miller said when he looks back on it, he's happy he was able to spend so much time with his dad on the road.
He said his favorite thing in the world was to be on the basketball court.
"I didn't see myself coaching until I was late in my college career. It was a great experience, and looking back on it, I wouldn't change it for the world."
On playing against Kobe Bryant
Miller's dad was coaching the McDonald's All-American game in 1996, and the game was in Pittsburgh.
Kobe Bryant was one of the All-Americans, and some players were going to be showing up later in the week to practice, so they needed extra guys to run on the court with.
Miller got into the car one morning and drove to practice with his dad. He was watching the practice, they needed some more guys and his dad told him to get on the court.
"Breakaway layup, and they are running back like a 2-on-1, Kobe had the ball coming down the right sideline," Miller said. "He like put out a stiff arm, basically palmed my head and dunked the ball. He said, 'You gotta watch it little fella or else you're gonna get hurt out there.'"
Seven questions from Hoosiers fans
1. Favorite place to eat in Bloomington? Miller said Bloomington is an underrated food town, and if there's one place people should go to, it's Little Zagreb.
2. What surprised you the most when you arrived on campus? "The campus itself. Unbelievable... It's picturesque everywhere you turn."
3. Who was your first IU commit? "My first commit probably would have been Race Thompson. I think Race Thompson was the first guy we got. I'm glad we got him. He's an unbelievable kid."
4. Loudest place to coach at outside of Assembly Hall? "In the Big Ten, Purdue's obviously one of the toughest environments. I think the Breslin Center speaks for itself. It's a great place to play as well. Road environments overall, though, since I've been at Indiana, the night we played at Cameron (Duke) a couple years ago with Zion and those guys, they got it jumping in there real early... But I will say this, the most impressive building I've been in on game night is Assembly Hall."
5. What's the most interesting fan encounter you've had so far? "To be honest, I don't think I've had really that bad fan encounters during my coaching time. I had a few has a player."
6. What is your most memorable moment at IU so far? "I would say we had a lot of good wins. I would say, without me realizing it probably, I would take the Michigan State game at home a year ago."
7. Who's on your Mount Rushmore of college basketball coaches? Bob Knight, Dean Smith, Coach K (Mike Krzyzewski) and Coach Wooden (John Wooden).
You can listen to the full podcast HERE.
Part two of Guyton's conversation with Miller will be out later this week.
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