Archie Miller's first season with IU basketball saw the Hoosiers finish 16-15 overall and 9-9 in the Big Ten. An up-and-down season that showed flashes of what could be ended early with a Big Ten Tournament loss against Rutgers, but there's reason for fans and the program to believe this year will be different.

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This squad has a level of depth last year's just didn't have, at each position, thanks in part to one of the nation's top-ranked recruiting classes.

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Miller spoke at Big Ten Basketball Media Day in Chicago, his team headlined by senior forward Juwan Morgan and freshman guard Romeo Langford — both of whom made the 2018-19 Preseason All-Big Ten team.

Here's what he had to say:

Miller's roster has six newcomers in the five freshmen and one transfer, but Miller would say there are technically seven because redshirt freshman forward Race Thompson redshirted last year and didn't play in games.

There are times Miller can easily identify freshmen in practices, which is understandable at this point in the process.

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McRoberts started his basketball career at the University of Vermont before he transferred to IU and walked on to the program. His role has grown each year with the program and last year, in Miller's first season with IU, McRoberts started 17 games. He was voted a team captain by his teammates.

Miller's praise for McRoberts included this: "Very few guys that you will have that you have the ability to coach or play with that you know gives everything he has. You know what I mean? I really mean that."

Davis suffered a season-ending injury in January after what had been a promising start to the season for the big-man. He averaged 9.6 points and 4.3 rebounds per game and started all 15 of the Hoosiers' contests to that point. His best performance came against Duke, when he scored 16 points and gave Duke's stars trouble down low.

Miller would later saying during his roundtable session that there was a "post-surgery little hiccup with his medicine and whatnot" that caused Davis to take more time off during his rehab this spring.

"That probably set him back another four weeks or so that he wasn’t able to do much," Miller said.

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Player thoughts

Juwan Morgan and Zach McRoberts joined Miller at media day.

Most of the questions they answered surrounded basketball and the upcoming season, but Morgan also let fans in on who the best Fortnite players are.

McRoberts talked about what it meant to have Miller voice so much praise for him earlier in the day.

Roster Health

Miller knocked on a table a couple times to keep the positive vibes going as he answered a question about how healthy his roster is, overall, because so far the team hasn't had anything more than the bumps and bruises any program sees.

"We’re trying to be mindful of their bodies right now," Miller said. "It’s a hard time of the year. This is when a lot of that stuff happens with the banging and the overuse so we’re trying to be mindful with our time on the floor. But they’re going at it pretty good. Just got to get through these first couple weeks. It’s a body shell-shock for every payer. The older you are the more used to it you are."