Mike Miller doesn’t want to talk about the past.

And after experiencing a brutal first year as the men’s basketball head coach, and all the losing the program has done since Eastern’s trip to the 2001 NCAA Tournament, who can blame him.

Yes, it’s only August and football has its season opener Saturday and the rest of the fall sports teams are about to start or already have started their respective seasons.

But if you think about it, the sport that could generate the most money for Eastern and gain the most national exposure is men’s basketball.

Division I basketball brings to mind March Madness, Dick Vitale, man-to-man defenses, 40 Minutes of Hell and the Princeton-style offense.

And maybe even a rebirth in the dormant men’s basketball program that Eastern has been during the last five years (combined record of 53-89 and 32-52 in the Ohio Valley Conference).

The Panthers tied a program-worst record with last year’s 6-21 season, had seven players not come back for Miller’s second year (two to graduation and the other five to injury or transfer) and have seven unproven Division I college basketball players.

“It’s a new year,” Miller said. “If we spent our whole offseason worrying about how to change what happened (last year), you can’t move forward.”

And a move forward from last season’s debacle is something that Miller, his staff and players should be welcoming with open arms.

I’m all for giving a coach the benefit of the doubt during his or her first year.

The one-year contract extension given to Miller in April was a bit surprising, but now Miller has at least three more years to change the losing ways at Lantz Arena.

The decision the administration made in giving Miller another year on his contract made me scratch my head in the spring.

But it somewhat makes sense now. It’s kind of like when your parents tell you someday you’ll appreciate all the things they’ve done for you and you slam a door in their face because you’re a teenager and teenagers rebel.

But I digress.

Basically, the contract extension is setting up a timetable for Miller to accomplish what he wants at Eastern.

He has overhauled the entire roster, bringing in versatile and athletic players that will suit his system of play better, composed a schedule that suits his team (no Missouri or Xavier to hand Eastern an early-season, self-esteem beat down this year).

He has said he wants to create a winning program here, one that alumni and the community of Charleston can talk about with pride.

“I want this program to be a real factor in the OVC,” Miller said. “When people talk about the OVC, I want them talking about Eastern Illinois. And I’m not hesitant to say that and to create expectations.”

There, those words are pretty much a state-of-Eastern basketball address. The leader has spoken and now his players need to back up what he has said.

In five years, we’ll know if Miller’s words came true and Eastern is the talk of the OVC-in a positive manner.

Matt Daniels is a junior journalism major. He can be reached at [email protected].