Miles raising Rams profile

Little was known about Tim Miles when he was introduced as Colorado State's basketball coach four years ago. He knew exactly where he stood, too.

The Mountain West Conference is home to coaches who arrived with national reputations -- Steve Alford, Steve Fisher and Lon Kruger, to drop a few big names -- and Miles showed up as a no-name.

He was a low-profile hire assigned the challenge of rebuilding an under-the-radar program.

"I have no pedigree," he said. "I didn't play for anybody and I couldn't play. I was an NAIA coach, a Division II coach, and I was a Division I coach by accident."

The thin Miles wears glasses and resembles a bookworm or math professor. But he can be comical and personable, and he has figured out ways to introduce himself as a coach to be taken seriously.

The Rams appear to be on the rise in the Mountain West, but they need to prove they can handle the league's highest-profile teams in No. 6 San Diego State, No. 9 Brigham Young, UNLV and New Mexico.

The Rebels (14-4, 2-2) represent another high hurdle for Colorado State (12-5, 2-1) when the teams meet at 7:30 p.m. today at the Thomas & Mack Center.

"I really do feel we're capable of breaking into that top four," Miles said. "I think we can beat any team, anywhere on any night. But I also think we can get beat by any team.

"Those four teams last year were so good, head and shoulders above the rest. Hopefully the rest of us have narrowed the gap."

The Rams own double-digit victories over Texas Christian and Wyoming, two of the MWC's worst teams. They were in the game late at New Mexico before falling 68-61 on Jan. 12.

Kruger has seen enough to know Colorado State is no longer just a punch line to UNLV and the league's heavyweights.

"It's a different club right now," Kruger said. "Tim has done a fantastic job. They have gotten better each year, and now, probably for the first time, he feels like he's got his guys in there and they're playing hard and playing well."

The Rams are led by physical senior forwards Andy Ogide and Travis Franklin. The backcourt includes Wes Eikmeier, a transfer from Iowa State, sophomore Dorian Green and senior Adam Nigon.

Miles recruited Green out of Lawrence, Kan. Green's only other scholarship offers were from Missouri-Kansas City and Wagner, and he turned down a walk-on opportunity at Kansas. Nigon was an intramural player who fell in Miles' lap.

"He just started showing up in the summer my first year when we hardly fielded a team," Miles said. "The guys started calling him the X-factor. We didn't know why, because it didn't look like he was that good, but whatever team he was on, they would win. I didn't even let him shoot 3s in practice his freshman year."

Nigon, who made seven 3s against Wyoming on Jan. 4, is No. 2 in the MWC in 3-point shooting (32-for-65, .492).

Miles was hired from North Dakota State, which made the move up to Division I during his tenure. He previously coached at Southwest Minnesota State and Mayville State. He took over the Rams and trimmed 10 scholarship players before his first season, which resulted in seven wins.

"I kicked guys off and guys quit. It was a mass exodus," he said. "Tom Crean had the same deal at Indiana, and they're still struggling. It's hard to rebuild. We're finally looking like a college basketball team."

Click on Twitter, and "CoachMiles" is posting messages at halftime of games. Tune in to The Mtn., and his team is featured on an all-access TV show, "Season Pass." Call in to the weekly league teleconference, and he's the most entertaining coach on the line.

"It was just another way to raise Colorado State's profile," he said of allowing TV cameras to shoot his program behind the scenes. "You see Coach Miles at his worst, and hopefully at his best."

In the Rams' visit to Las Vegas last year, the Rebels rolled, 70-39.

"UNLV jumped on us and we stopped. We quit," Miles said. "This team doesn't do that. We're more resilient.

"We've got a lot of nice guys, really nice guys, and that's never good. But they persevere and they keep fighting."

Contact reporter Matt Youmans at myoumans@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2907.