Nebrasketball: Coach Tim Miles and a Big Ten Team on the Rise

by Scott Winter, Tom Izzo (Foreword)

When fall rolls into winter, most sports fans in Nebraska long for spring football. But Coach Tim Miles has given hibernating fans a reason to cheer through winter for the first time in twenty years. Since taking over the men’s basketball program in 2012, Miles has gone from being relatively unknown outside college coaching circles to a big name on the national stage as an up-and-coming, funny, and fan-friendly college coach. Miles scores big with Nebraska’s fans with his social media acumen—he tweets during halftime—and his fan interaction—he applied (and failed) to become the leader of the student section at Pinnacle Bank Arena. But on the court and in practice, Miles is all about winning. His combination of toughness, togetherness, and humor has rejuvenated Nebraska basketball. Nebrasketball provides a full-access account of Tim Miles’s path to Nebraska and his team’s inaugural season in the $186 million Pinnacle Bank Arena. With full access to Miles and the team, Scott Winter provides basketball fans with an intimate look at a rising star in college basketball, detailing what it’s like to coach an NCAA men’s program today with all of its triumphs and struggles, along with Miles’s larger story as a transformational coach who has made Nebraska basketball, and other college programs, relevant. The book also shows the small-town legacy and tenacity that created Miles, including his mother’s prodding, his benching as a college player, and his significant history of losing, which he claims was his most important mentor.

355 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 2015

Reviews

[Sarah Bakeman · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the first sports book I've ever read. I don't follow sports, nor do I really understand the legacies and lore behind every team. Basically, I'm not this book's target audience in any way. Yet it was still an excellent read.

Winter did masterful work making the reader care about not only Tim Miles, but the sport and the players and the other coaches. The stakes kept getting higher, and once I hit the halfway point, I had a hard time putting the book down.

I have an entirely new appreciation for what it means to be a coach, and I understand why these dudes are always throwing clipboards.

[Soraya Keiser · Rating 5 out of 5]

It only took me four years to finally pick up Scott's magnum opus. I loved annotating this because it added a level of fun to the reading. I could tell this was written by Scott because it was written and reported well. Some sentences were just sooooooo Scott Winter. Under normal circumstances I would probably give this 4 stars because I actually do not care one single ounce about college basketball. But if Tim Miles was Ted Lasso, that meant Scott Winter was Trent Crimm, and that was very exciting for me. Also Scott has taught me practically everything I know so I owe him one more star. At the end I was rooting for the Huskers, so he made me care! Now I want a TV show on this season.

[Matthew Ludwig · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought that this book was one of my favorites of all time. It takes a lot for me to read at home and this book was sure enough one of them. Being a Nebraska Basketball fan definitely has its downs but in 2013-2014 it was one of the most entertaining underdog teams I've ever watched play. This book gives first hand accounts of behind the scenes game plan, conversations, scouting, game film, etc. I highly recommend this book if you're an avid husker basketball fan.