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Coach Coles discusses team, summer vacation

Coles
Coles

Tess Waldburger

Coles

Even though practice will not officially begin for the Miami University's men's basketball team until Oct. 12, Head Coach Charlie Coles shared with The Student how he spent his summer, in addition to his ambitions and plans for the season. It may be a tough act to follow: The team took the Mid-American Conference Tournament last season, heading to the NCAA Tournament. The first game is 8 p.m. Nov. 13 at Miami against Xavier University.

What was your favorite moment from the past few months?My favorite moment of the summer ... let's see. I went to see a Red's baseball game with my son and grandson against the San Francisco Giants.

Did you do anything exciting, see any good movies or go on vacation?

I went on vacation. I went up to Lake Michigan, with my daughter, son-in-law, grandchild, and my wife. I did that and I recruited this summer in the month of July.

Does your team do any practicing during the summer or go to any tournaments?

No, we're not allowed to work with them during the summer, so they're kind of on their own.

Do you talk to any of the players over the summer?Yeah. They are here for six weeks. Our players that have been with us, they are here with us for the first six weeks of summer school. Then, the new people come in the second summer term, because they can't start until they get out of high school. So they come in and take a couple classes. We get to meet with all of them but we still can't coach.

How many returning players, or starters, will there be for this upcoming season?

Three returning starters.

How many seniors will you have?

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One, Tim Pollitz. Our best player.

What are your expectations for the team this year?Well, we've got high expectations. We want to win the league championship, which is our goal every year really. That's our goal again this year, and then also, we want to get to the NCAA tournament, which is again a goal we have every year. Last year we achieved that goal.

Because you went to Miami and played basketball here, do you think it helps you? Yeah, I think it helps when you know what your school's philosophy is. How they feel about athletics, and how athletics relates to academics. So I think that's important.