North Dakota State’s Tim Miles will be introduced as the new Colorado State men’s basketball coach today at a 4 p.m. news conference, a CSU source confirmed.
Miles helped North Dakota State make the transition from NCAA Division II ranks to independent Division I status. The school will move to the Mid-Continent Conference next season.
The school made a name for itself upsetting then No. 15 Wisconsin in the 2005-06 season and toppled NCAA qualifier Marquette this season. Miles was named the Division I Independent Coach of the Year by CBS Sportsline for 2005-06. He took Southwest Minnesota State to the 2001 Division II Elite Eight.
The South Dakota native, who turned down North Carolina-Wilmington a year ago, went 20-8 in his final year with the school as an independent. The biggest victory was 104-52 over New Jersey Tech.
CSU athletic director Paul Kowalczyk, who has remained mum on the search since firing Dale Layer March 12, must have liked something he saw when the Bison scared CSU before falling 82-80 Dec. 18 in Fort Collins.
The Bison roster primarily was recruited from Minnesota and North Dakota, never a recruiting hotbed for CSU men’s basketball.
The last Mountain West coach with ties to North Dakota State was Ray Giacoletti, recently fired at Utah two years after taking the Utes to the Sweet 16. Giacoletti had a stop in between at Eastern Washington.
Miles’ hiring comes a day after Denver made a big splash with former Air Force and Princeton coach Joe Scott and amidst reports MWC rival New Mexico will hire Steve Alford from Iowa.
Natalie Meisler can be reached at 303 954-1295 or nmeisler@denverpost.com.
