Zach Osterman

zach.osterman@indystar.com

BLOOMINGTON – The first big win of Archie Miller’s still-young tenure as IU coach arrived almost immediately.

Less than a week after Miller was officially hired last month, senior forward Collin Hartman, out all of last season with a serious knee injury, elected to return for a fifth year. It was an early boost for Miller. It would not be the last.

“One thing that's surprised me to the positive is how our current guys, team on campus, has responded to the change, and also has been very mature about their approach,” Miller said. “Sometimes it's difficult to get anything done in three weeks, when you don't know somebody. But I feel like with their approach and what we've tried to put together for a four-week period of time, they took advantage of it, and they improved.”

So, when IU’s new coach settled into a marathon all-staff media session late Tuesday morning, he spoke with both hope and detail about the first roster he’ll field as Indiana’s coach.

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Miller still faces an oversigning quandary, one that could resolve itself in a number of ways, including via multiple NBA departures. James Blackmon Jr., Robert Johnson and Thomas Bryant are all still in the draft field at present.

While IU’s new coach has suggested he doesn’t foresee regular issues with oversigning, he said Tuesday that he dealt with them occasionally at Dayton, and that he’s not overly concerned with the situation before him now.

“We still have guys now that, one's gone, and we have three more guys that could walk in tomorrow and say ‘I’m not coming back,’” Miller said. “So when that happens, you're kind of looking around and saying, now we're one under, so we have a lot of things coming and moving, but I don't anticipate it being challenging. I think it's going to work itself out.”

However that happens, Miller clearly likes the look of the squad at his disposal.

He praised Hartman’s maturity and leadership skills, and said that — while he’s still recovering from that knee injury — the Cathedral alumnus has been an active participant in spring workouts.

“Everything that was told to me about him as a person, as a leader, that he's a key cog in the program's wheel, was true,” Miller said. “It didn't take long to figure out what he's about.”

Miller was equally effusive in his praise for redshirt senior point guard Josh Newkirk, who he said has displayed “great character level” this spring. Should the Hoosiers manage to keep hold of early NBA draft entrants Blackmon and Johnson — both of whom could yet return to college — Miller said he sees a “very, very talented backcourt” anchoring his first IU team.

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About his options in the post, Miller was equally excited.

He called Juwan Morgan “another guy with an opportunity to really break out as a player with how we play." And he made it clear he has high expectations for De’Ron Davis, who excelled in brief flashes as a freshman but struggled with fitness and, later, foul trouble. Building his body this offseason, Miller said, will be critical for Davis.

“He's got great hands and feet,” Miller said. “We've just got to find a way that when you guys see him in October and November that you say, ‘Wow, what happened to him?’

“If you're not saying that, then we didn't get it done. That's just the way it's going to be. If we say that, then you're like, ‘Wow, he looks like a new man,’ then he's going to have a chance to have a good year.”

Follow IndyStar reporter Zach Osterman on Twitter: @ZachOsterman.