Pavelka, Yori Hit Meaningful Milestones of 40

Randy York's N-Sider

Kent Pavelka and Connie Yori are leaders who always focus on the future rather than the history of the past. But let the record show that the voice of Nebraska men’s basketball and the head coach of Husker women’s basketball are converging on separate milestones involving the same number – 40, as in forty. One connects to a number of years and the other to a number of games.

First, within the past week, Pavelka took one small step in his personal time tunnel, and even though he was willing to let it pass, thank Husker basketball fan Kevin Horn of Alliance, Neb., for checking the calendar and spotting a milestone that marked the 40th anniversary of Pavelka’s first broadcast of Husker men’s basketball on the radio. The Lincoln native launched his career, calling Nebraska's win over South Dakota State, 87-72, at the NU Coliseum.

Congratulations, Kent, for trapping you in history. It’s the only way we can explain how history is trapped in you. We still remember you calling Nebraska’s final game at the Bob Devaney Sports Center in 2013 after being there since its 1976 beginning. Sandwiched in between were meaningful upsets of Kansas and Texas, not to mention the Huskers’ National Invitation Tournament Championship run in 1996.

Yori Prepares for 40th Nebraska-Creighton Game

Secondly, let the record show that Yori will be involved in the 40th Nebraska-Creighton women's basketball game Thursday night when the Bluejays host the Huskers at Omaha’s D.J. Sokol Arena. Tip-off is 8 p.m., and Nebraska will be making its first-ever women's basketball appearance on Fox Sports 1.

Yori never sees herself in a game’s storyline, but for those interested, it marks the 31st year of Yori's involvement in the game. Nebraska is 28-11 in the all-time series, including 8-1 in the last nine games. Last season, Nebraska worked its way to a 63-38 win over the Bluejays in the first-ever meeting at Pinnacle Bank Arena on Dec. 14, 2013.

On Saturday at 2 p.m., the Husker women will host Bakersfield (California) in a game that will be carried online on BTN Plus.

After losing to Creighton Sunday night, the Nebraska men’s team will try to get back on track in two home games this week – Wednesday night’s contest against Incarnate Word, a Division I NCAA team from San Antonio. Tipoff is 7 p.m. at Pinnacle Bank Arena. The Husker men also host Cincinnati at 8 p.m. Saturday in a game that will be telecast on the Big Ten Network.

Miles' Attitude, Influence Intrigues Prep Executive

With a rare Nebraska men’s home-court loss Sunday night, we find some solace. Darin Boysen, executive director of the Nebraska Coaches Association, wrote a six-page cover story in the December issue of Nebraska Coach, a quarterly color magazine that covers the state of Nebraska. A former high school wrestling coach, Boysen is a strategic thinker and a positive-minded leader. He has been fascinated with Tim Miles’ accelerated success in transforming Nebraska’s basketball fortunes. Boysen asked for and received permission to follow Miles for an entire day, so he could see what makes this man of enormous energy so unique. Boysen boiled his lead headline to four appropriate words that he believes defines Miles’ rapid ascent: Attitude That Craves Improvement. He follows that with this qualifier: Coach Tim Miles Leads Husker Men’s Basketball Team to High Expectations.

Boysen did a nice job pulling together Miles’ beliefs regarding expectations, complacency, goal-setting, types of players, attitude, the big picture, coaching balance, disconnecting stress, elevating high school basketball, social media impact and how it influences recruiting and educating. He also featured the importance of communication, why the world’s changing, the need for a family feel, and why it’s true that when much is expected, much is given. Please take the time to check out the document in the Related Links section and read Boysen’s views of Miles’ remarkable multi-faceted approach. We close with two categories that are key components of Miles' success.

Individual Goals Connect with Miles’ Strategy

As Miles began to talk more about his daily one-on-one interaction with his players, it’s easy see his excitement and passion grow. Miles stresses the importance of having individual meetings with players to foster honest and strong relationships, while giving players a sense of purpose. Many of these skills he learned from former Nebraska Head Volleyball Coach Terry Pettit while he coached at Colorado State. “Setting written goals is so important to crystalize thinking for young people. This is our pact! This is what we agreed upon brother! If we can’t live by this, there’s nothing here, no relationship. We do several activities to ask players, ‘What’s important to you?’ What kind of player do you want to be?’ We try to put it in terms that players can understand while being life applicable…this takes an enormous amount of time to determine what drives them,” explained Miles

Defining an Attitude That Craves Improvement

According to Boysen, Miles said that he tells his players, “You’re either here all the time or none of time! You either have discipline or you don’t! Similar to she’s pregnant or she isn’t! We have to have players that are either difference makers or winners, and if they can’t be that type of player, they can’t be part of this program.” If the players don’t know you and trust you, they’re not going to respond. There has to be honesty. Miles points to the most important value in the program: Each player must possess an attitude that craves improvement.

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