We are still a couple of months away from the tip-off of the college basketball season, which means that we have plenty of time to prepare for the action ahead. We will do so via a series of season previews featuring the best players/coaches in the country. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel continues our coverage with Miami assistant coach Kotie Kimble, who talked about making the Final 4 last season and his expectations for this season.
In the 2006 Big South tourney title game as a student assistant at Coastal Carolina, Craig Bradshaw scored 8 PTS including a hook shot with 9.1 seconds left in a 1-PT win by Winthrop: did you think the shot was going in, and where does that rank among the most devastating losses of your career? You are taking me back to some bad memories! Unfortunately, the hook shot looked good the whole way: it is probably top-2 or top-3 of my most devastating losses. The 2 schools had a huge rivalry at the time and were not fans of each other. We beat them twice during the regular season but they got us when it mattered the most. Buzz Peterson was our head coach and we entered the title game on a 12-game winning streak.
In the 2011 NCAA tourney as an assistant coach at UNC Asheville you beat Little Rock before losing to #1-seed Pitt: what is it like to actually win a tourney game as a #16-seed? That was awesome! It was the 1st year of the 1st 4 and we had some really good all-conference guards in Matt Dickey/JP Primm who led the way. I remember the win like it was yesterday and the joy in the locker room after beating Little Rock in OT: we still talk about those memories today. We got done late, boarded the plane to DC around midnight, and arrived around 4AM…but our guys still loved it.
In 2018 as an assistant coach at William & Mary you became the 1st team in NCAA history to shoot 50+ FG%/40+ 3P%/80+ FT%: what is the secret to being a good shooter? 1 key is to recruit really good shooters, which is something we did very well. We valued shot-making ability so we went out and found those guys. I credit Coach Tony Shaver and our entire staff for spending time in the gym and taking plenty of practice time to focus on shooting: as a result our guys blossomed.
You were hired by Miami head coach Jim Larranaga as an assistant in 2022: what makes him such a great coach, and what is the most important thing that you have learned from him so far? He is great for a lot of reasons and his resume speaks for itself. He has an unbelievable ability to motivate/inspire/empower. If you watch our guys, especially in March, they play with a tremendous amount of freedom and the spirit of our team is special. It all starts with Coach L because he gives them the confidence.
In the 2023 NCAA tourney you made it all the way to the Final 4 before losing to eventual champ UConn: what is your favorite memory from your postseason run, and why do you think that so many of last year’s top seeds (including #1-seed Houston, whom you upset in the Sweet 16) were unable to have a great run of their own? What a run! Being a part of the 1st Final 4 in school history was amazing. There were a lot of great moments: we rallied back in the 1st game to beat Drake and save our season but my favorite moment was vs. Texas in the Elite 8. They were a really good team and we were down by double-digits with under 10 minutes left but the fight we showed was awesome. Jordan Miller had a perfect game (7-7 FG/13-13 FT) and seeing the joy on the faces of all of our upperclassmen was really special.
Last May you were 1 of 6 D-1 assistant coaches who participated in the prestigious “Champion Forum”: what did you learn during your time in Indianapolis? It was an incredible experience and I felt privileged to be 1 of the 6. I learned how to be a better assistant for my current boss: the purpose is to prepare us to take the next step…but the best way to do that is to be a better version of myself. They also prepared us to be head coaches by showing us what a CEO looks like and the obstacles along the way. I liked being among other elite guys in the business and they did an incredible job of putting on that event.
While you bring back several players from your Final 4 squad you do not have a single senior on the roster: have you figured out yet who will be your on-court leader? We lost 2 starters in Isaiah Wong/Jordan but return 4 of our top-6 players (Nijel Pack/Wooga Poplar/Norchad Omier/Bensley Joseph) so we have some guys in the locker room who have experienced success with multiple Elite 8s under their belt. I think the leadership will come from those 4 guys and they have been great all spring/summer. We took a trip to France last month where our guys were able to bond and find their voices.
1 of your new players is Matthew Cleveland, who transferred in from Florida State: what sort of role do you expect him to have this year? He will play a very big role for us: he has 2 years of experience in the ACC and is really impressive. He has fit in well and his versatility really stands out to us. He can guard multiple positions and play both the 3/4 on offense. He rebounds really well for his position: he had 7+ RPG last year. We are thrilled to have him on the right side after the dagger last February (www.youtube.com/watch?v=q4u9_BDwcMU).
Your schedule this year includes a trip to the Bahamas, playing Kentucky in Lexington, and playing Colorado in Brooklyn: which of these games do you feel will present your biggest test? They are all tough: with success comes more challenges/opportunities so we are getting invited to play in the Bahamas and play good teams like Colorado at neutral sites. The non-conference schedule will be challenging so we will learn a lot about our team early. UCF is also coming here in November after we battled with them at their place last year before winning by 2 PTS.
What are your goals for this season, and what are your expectations for this season? Our goal every year is to get the most out of our team. We need to spend more time with our guys but there is a buzz around our program so we expect to win the ACC and compete for a national championship. We have a group that can be very competitive on the national level but we need to continue to improve. We have to find our niche but we are excited about our chances.