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October 9, 2025 • 19 mins
UC Men's Basketball Coach Wes Miller joins the show to preview his UC Bearcat team this upcoming season.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
East Coast Subs since e three to sixty of About
Cincinnati from Cincinnati, spontered in part by Penn Station East
Coast Subs handcrafted hot grilled subs, fresh cut fries, and lemonade.
It's all about good taste. Pennstation East Coast Subs order
online today. This is ESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnati Sports Station.

Speaker 2 (00:23):
Welcome back our number three here on Cincy three sixty.
Drew and I had Penn Station today for launch. It
was excellent, But Drew, those cookies may the bomb so good.
I know everybody's in kind of a bad mood today
because of everything that happened yesterday. So when I was
gonna come in for the show, started planning the show,

(00:45):
I said, I need a centerpiece. I need something to
bring the people together. I need to rally the troops.
And I figured I would do that by bringing in
the head coach of the Cincinnati Bearcats men's basketball program,
Wes Miller. Wes, how's it going, how's the off season?
And we're almost there? Can you sense that the season

(01:06):
is right around the corner.

Speaker 3 (01:09):
We finally had some chill in the air today and
that's usually a sign we're close to basketball season. But no,
it's it's good that it's getting here, Chad, thanks for
having me on. You know, we go play in an
exhibition game next Friday. I think that makes it feel
a little closer than anything. But we do still have
quite a bit of time before we take the court

(01:30):
and a lot of practice toime left. So yes, it's
almost here in some ways, but in other ways we
got quite a bit of work to do.

Speaker 2 (01:37):
There's always a point in the preseason and the lead
up to the season where coaches feel like my team's
not ready. Not that I hate my team, but we're
not there yet. Have you gone from excitement to anxiety yet?

Speaker 4 (01:52):
I think after fifteen years.

Speaker 3 (01:56):
You can put it in perspective a little bit that
there's going to be aspects of practice every day to
give you excitement where you can see it coming together,
and then there's going to be aspects of practice that,
you know, show you how much work you have to
do and allow you to see the areas you need
to concentrate on a little more than maybe you thought.

Speaker 4 (02:16):
And I think that's every day.

Speaker 3 (02:18):
Whether it's a good practice, whether it's a practice where
you didn't quite play as well. I just think it's
about learning from it, waking up the next day and
trying to attack it. And we've just learned how to
stay pretty level, at least as a coaching staff here
over a long period of time.

Speaker 2 (02:33):
Yeah, this is a it's almost uncharted territory. In this
transfer portal era. You have almost an entirely new roster.
You do get the benefit of now you can work
with these guys in June and July, you get them
when school starts for a period leading up to the
official start of practice. Where do you feel like your

(02:55):
team is that and how much does it help that
you do have a bunch of veteran guys, even though
you know they played somewhere else before they got here.

Speaker 4 (03:04):
Yeah, loaded question.

Speaker 3 (03:07):
Let me see if I can answer parts of it
for you. I think, I think when you have so
many new faces, which is kind of the new norm. Yeah,
you know, the summer is really valuable to learn the
team and even the fall in the in the early
part of practice, you know, you're trying to not just
learn the players and obviously we've done our job to

(03:29):
evaluate them and figure out who we're getting, but kind
of learn how they function within the things that we
value how they work together the best combinations, and so
you're you're of course you're installing things, installing style of
play offensively and defensively, especially the nuts and bolts, but
you're also trying to leave some room for creativity so

(03:51):
you can learn where we could be the best. And
that's probably a lot different than it was five six
years ago, where you know, you may have two new players,
but the direction of exactly what you're doing is clear
before you have your first day summer workouts, right because
that team's been together so long. So it's a very
different process in terms of where we are in that process.

(04:12):
I think we're in a good place, like we've we
we got to a place a week or two ago
where we're now having a ton of clarity on the
details that we need to be focused on within our
style of play. You know, we've talked a lot about
how this team needs to play really fast. I think
this will be the fastest team I've ever coached if
we can be fortunate enough to stay healthy.

Speaker 4 (04:34):
I mean, Kirk Risa, it's just it's infectious, the.

Speaker 3 (04:39):
Pace he wants to play with in the back court,
and it's made guys like Davion Thomas and cincior Harris
and Keishan Tillery want to play even faster.

Speaker 4 (04:50):
It's made guys that are running.

Speaker 3 (04:51):
Wings run harder, and then we do have a front
court that can really run. So this will be I
think the fastest team I've ever coached and to end.
So we've been working on that for a long time.
But the intricacies of that, the things that we focus
within that, you know, that's become a lot more clear
here over the last couple of weeks. So we're getting

(05:13):
to some of the details. And I would say that
about each aspect of our team offensively and defensively. You know,
I've had to tell our staff this, We're not ready
to play a game yet, but we're not supposed to be.
You know, it's gosh, it's October ninth. I just look down.
We don't play till November. We got to make sure
we're ready to play November, and we.

Speaker 4 (05:32):
Will right now.

Speaker 3 (05:34):
We just got to keep doing the right things every
day to get ready for November. So we have this
exhibition game against Michigan next Friday. We are nowhere near
ready to go play a game like that, but that's okay,
and that'll be a great tool for us to keep
growing throughout this preseason. So yes, I think we're on
track for where I want us to be for November.

(05:56):
Are we on track to play our best basketball next
Friday Night? Man our?

Speaker 2 (05:59):
Hell?

Speaker 4 (05:59):
Though, we got a long way to go.

Speaker 3 (06:01):
But that's not the goal of the years to be
ready to play in October. It's to be ready to
play when it counts and to be at our best
in January, February of March.

Speaker 2 (06:11):
The exhibition thing is new. It's been super secret scrimmages
up until now, but now these exhibition games are open.
You get to play. You know, your choice of how
you want to handle this. Your choice has been let's
go play two teams that are expected to be really,

(06:32):
really good, including a Michigan team that many think is
going to be in the top five and might have
the best player in the country in Jacks Lindenborg. What
was that philosophy of let's go on the road and
really really challenge ourselves in these two exhibitions.

Speaker 3 (06:51):
Yeah, I think it's just that there's a lot of
aspects to it, but it's a great tool for the
development of our team in the preseason. You know, first off,
we play against each other every day, and there's only
so much you can learn about yourself playing against each other.
So when you see a different jersey, it's just a
great opportunity to learn new things about your team, to

(07:13):
learn things that maybe you haven't focused on as much
that you can go attack. So the earlier we can
play a game against somebody else, the better it should.
I've if they ever let me make decisions, Chad, we
get to play against a different team in the preseason
every week, and I'd argue that would make the college
basketball product better when November comes around.

Speaker 4 (07:35):
But you know, we got a long way to go
for they let me do that.

Speaker 3 (07:39):
I will I will say that, you know, with with
the games we're playing at Michigan and Arkansas. I looked
at the Big Twelve experience the last two years. You know,
it's the best league in America, and there's there's gonna
be difficult nights, like there's just.

Speaker 4 (07:55):
No way around that.

Speaker 3 (07:57):
We we got to get more prepared for playing and
the hardest environments for having to overcome some adversity. We
got to prepare our team and our program for that.
That doesn't mean I schedule them so we can get
our bus kicked. But if we do, it's a great
opportunity for us to learn and grow from that, like
and to get ready for what the You're going to

(08:19):
have a night like that in the Big twelve.

Speaker 4 (08:21):
That's everybody does the whole league, right, And if we
play great, it'll give us some confidence.

Speaker 3 (08:27):
But either way, it should be a good experience for
us and an opportunity and a tool that we can
use to keep building our team. So yes, it was
very strategic to go play like I think it's homecoming
weekend at both Michigan and Arkansas.

Speaker 4 (08:40):
You know, both teams have a lot of type going
into the year.

Speaker 3 (08:42):
I think Dusty's talked about, you know, their goals national
championship in day one and he said that publicly, So like, listen,
we're gon we're going to go play in very difficult
environments in October, and whatever happens, I think it's going
to be really positive for us in January. Like I've
said this, you know to our team already, Jed, you know,
if we play terrible and we get our bus kicked,

(09:05):
all you guys.

Speaker 4 (09:05):
Will think we're the worst thing that ever happened to basketball,
and that'll be great. That'll be great because we'll get
to learn how to manage that.

Speaker 3 (09:13):
And in today's world with the phones, you know, the
kids got to learn how to manage that. If we
played great and we win, all you guys will lack
like we're gonna go undefeated, And that'll be great because
we're gonna have to learn how to manage that type
of thing. Because we're gonna have some great success. We
got to stay steady, and we're gonna have some homes
that we don't and we got to stay steady. And

(09:33):
I think these games give us an opportunity to start
working at that stuff early.

Speaker 2 (09:37):
I don't know if it's homecoming in ann Arbor, but
I do know they play Washington at noon the next day.
I was looking at hotels because I'm gonna go up
and cover the game. I was looking at hotels and
I think there was a red roof n for three
hundred and eighty seven dollars a night. So I think
I'm not staying in ann Arbor.

Speaker 3 (09:55):
You know, Chaed, I always thought you were a guy
that would do whatever it takes. So I'm disappointed to
hear that.

Speaker 2 (09:59):
No, I'm stan in Toledo. I'm going I'm just not
staying in ann Arbor because I can't see myself paying
three hundred and eighty seven dollars for a night at
the Red Roof.

Speaker 4 (10:08):
In So you're just telling me you're intelligent.

Speaker 2 (10:11):
Yeah, I'm trying. I'm trying. I don't know if you
believe me or not. You've known me for long enough now.

Speaker 4 (10:16):
Well I believe that for sure. That's just one of
your many endearing qualities.

Speaker 2 (10:20):
But let's talk about the interior the post. Guys that
you mentioned earlier, Mustapha chom Babbon Miller, Jalen Haynes, although
big Slime doesn't work anymore, coach, is he medium slime now?
Like he is? He is trimmed out. He is looking good.

Speaker 3 (10:40):
But I'll tell you guys what I what I told
our team a while back. The only way he's going
to get me to call him slim is if he
gets twenty rebounds in a game. I don't use nicknames
unless you earn him, and so he's Jalen Haynes to me.

Speaker 4 (10:56):
But no, he.

Speaker 3 (10:58):
He. I thought he really came back from our little
August two week break, and from the time he got back,
he's been very, very focused about getting physically ready to play,
which is important because he's an extremely important player for
our team. He's a little undersized for a front court player,

(11:18):
even though he does have tremendous length, and so him
being able to maximize his physical abilities night and night
out in our league is important. And I've been pleased
since August with the effort he's put into getting in
great shape. He's in a lot better shape than you
he was when he got here back.

Speaker 2 (11:33):
In Jaim Mustafa chem incredibly talented, length, athleticism, size. What
has surprised you about him? Maybe since he got here anything?

Speaker 3 (11:46):
You know, sometimes you have to with move You have
to remember that he was supposed to be a high
school senior last year. Yeah, and you know, we played
against him and I had such great respect for competing
against him, and then you know, he.

Speaker 4 (12:03):
Gets here and you're going, hey, man, what.

Speaker 3 (12:06):
It surprises me that, like, you don't know everything that
Kerkkrisa and Jalen Celestine know. And you know, these guys are,
you know, thirty five years old, right, like seniors And
I'm being kind of funny, but.

Speaker 4 (12:18):
They're fifty year guys.

Speaker 3 (12:20):
And you talked about that earlier at the beginning of
the interview here. We do have some older guys Jalen Haynes.
You know, MoU is not one of those guys, even
though he has a year of experience. So sometimes you know,
you've had to realize, man, he's still really new to
the game, you know, coming over from Senegal, and you
know he should have been in high school last year.

(12:40):
So even though he has some great experience in our league, like,
there's just things that he hasn't quite.

Speaker 4 (12:46):
Figured out or doesn't know yet.

Speaker 3 (12:47):
But what's remarkable is how quickly he's learning, Like it's remarkable.
I mean, how much better he is today than a
month ago has been really.

Speaker 4 (12:57):
Exciting for all of us as a coaching staff.

Speaker 3 (12:59):
And you know, I think the one thing last year
he was playing in the dunker a lot. They had
such a tremendous offensive firepower on the perimeter at UCF
last year. You know Hall and the point guard they had,
those guys were great players, Hault and out at Auburn.

Speaker 4 (13:14):
Keyshawn Hall.

Speaker 3 (13:15):
But he was there and then he kind of float
around and shoots some threes, which he can really do.
But we tried to make him run to seal and
hit in the post box to be crazy physical. It's
not been comfortable for him throughout the summer, but he's
starting to figure it out.

Speaker 4 (13:34):
And I'm telling you he catches it inside five or sixty.

Speaker 3 (13:37):
He's pretty tank good, you know, and he's getting better
at carving out position to do that. He's got great touch,
great hands, great feel, and then he still has that
ability to step out and shoot threes.

Speaker 4 (13:48):
I just hadn't let him do it yet, but we will.

Speaker 3 (13:50):
But we're trying to establish the interior game with him first,
and I'm really pleased with his development there. Certainly, you
guys know this from Chad coming to practice.

Speaker 4 (14:00):
The way he moves defensively at seven two is and
he can really run the floor.

Speaker 2 (14:07):
Yeah, Bobi Miller, you had a chance to go over
and watch him with the national team in Spain. We
were we able to learn about him maybe that you
didn't know by by going over and watching him in
a different setting.

Speaker 4 (14:18):
It was.

Speaker 3 (14:19):
It was really healthy, like something that I'll remember as
I moved forward as a coach, that seeing guys in
different settings really helps you understand them.

Speaker 4 (14:29):
You know.

Speaker 3 (14:30):
I thought our summer practices were very competitive, and you know,
he had good moments, don't get me wrong, but he
was great for the Spanish national team. And when we
talked after those games, the one thing.

Speaker 4 (14:44):
He said was it was easier. And he was playing
against you know, a.

Speaker 3 (14:48):
Couple of NBA players in those games, you know, you know,
pros and older guys, and he said he thought it
was easier than our practices and that gave him a
lot of confidence.

Speaker 4 (14:58):
So, you know, I that made me, you know, realize.

Speaker 3 (15:01):
Something that sometimes we need to make sure they're in
some environments where they can see the benefit of practice,
and maybe in practice we can create those environments a
little better. It didn't all have to be so difficult
every single day, even though you know, I like it
to be difficult.

Speaker 4 (15:16):
I think it's good for our development.

Speaker 3 (15:18):
But no, he was really good off the bounce, he
was really good around the rim, He rebounded well, and
he's starting to now do those things in our practices here.
So that's been good and that was a positive experience.

Speaker 2 (15:29):
As you mentioned, and Jordie Rodriguez, you got to see
why you were over there as well. I've heard good things.
I've seen good things from JORDI. Yes, he can shoot,
but it feels like he's a little bit more than now.
His effort is good. People tend to label those euro
guys as soft. I haven't gotten that vibe from Jordi.

Speaker 3 (15:48):
No, he's not soft at all, and we knew that
recruiting him. I got to see him live in Spain again.
As you mentioned when I went to watch Baba. Physically,
Mike Rayfield will be the greatest thing that happened to
him our strength coach, because he does need to get
stronger physically, but he has a level of toughness. I
remember watching him defend when he was playing with the

(16:11):
national team and I looked to my girlfriend and I said,
I needed to see that. And he was really chasing
a great shooter around action for the Czech Republic and
he blew up a couple of screens and gave great effort,
and I went, man, he's gonna be fine defending for us.
And he has I mean, he's really bright, he has
a great feel for the game. He can tell he's

(16:32):
played a high level of professional basketball already because he's
wise beyond his years in some ways, and he does
need to get a.

Speaker 4 (16:39):
Little physically stronger and he knows that as well.

Speaker 2 (16:42):
And then finally, save the best for last Dayda Thomas,
a guy that maybe you didn't expect was gonna get
to spend a third year at Cincinnati, but he's here.
I've been really impressed with the way he's carrying himself
this year, the way his teammates are responding to him.
This looks like a much more confident, calm version of

(17:04):
Dayda Thomas that we've seen.

Speaker 3 (17:07):
Yeah, you know, you think you might have asked the
question in a press conference weeks ago about having all
these new faces and how difficult it has.

Speaker 4 (17:15):
That hold on a second.

Speaker 3 (17:16):
Now we do have Dayda Thomas, and he might be
worth more than just one returning player because he has
had that kind of presence within our program this summer
in this fall.

Speaker 4 (17:27):
I think a couple of things. One, he's just matured
a lot.

Speaker 3 (17:30):
He's he's been in our program, he's been in Cincinnati,
so he has a certain level of awareness about what.

Speaker 4 (17:37):
This means, what we represent.

Speaker 3 (17:40):
And then you know he's healthy too, Chad, Like you know,
he was coming off the foot injury.

Speaker 4 (17:45):
Yeah, had the big set. He had the big setback
in October last year and didn't even play early in
the year.

Speaker 3 (17:51):
It took him a long time to get back to
the Dayda Thomas that we all have known and loved
on the court, and I think he looks like that
again physically, just looks confident, healthy and again way more mature,
and he's had a presence within the team that's been
really positive thus far.

Speaker 2 (18:09):
Coach, much appreciated you taking out some time today and
calming the masses. Everybody's a little angry about Tony. I
know you like Tony a lot, but I appreciate you
coming on and giving us some time today.

Speaker 3 (18:24):
Well to Tony is a Bearcat and an all time
great Bearcat and somebody I've really enjoyed getting to know,
seeing him at our games and football games, and you know,
being a part of the show. So I appreciated your introduction,
but I cannot fill that void.

Speaker 4 (18:41):
I feel the same way everybody else does, and just
wish him nothing but the best.

Speaker 3 (18:45):
But I'm glad I got to come on today, and
now I'm gonna get away from you guys and get
back to the stuff that matters, which is getting our
team ready to play.

Speaker 2 (18:52):
All right, We'll see you eight days in ann Arbor.
Appreciated Coach, Thank you. Here you go, Cincinnati Bearcat's head
coach Miller. Great stuff, great stuff, A lot of insight
there on a lot of guys. Let's take a break.
I'll talk about I've been to a couple of practices.
I've seen a little bit Drew. I've seen some things.
Not as much as that guy, but I've seen some things.

(19:14):
I'll get some thoughts on the Bearcats as well when
we come back. This is SINCEY thirty sixty right here
on Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty.

Speaker 4 (19:22):
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