FARGO, N.D. -- North Dakota State University men's
basketball coach Tim Miles says he is staying with the Bison.
Miles made the announcement Thursday afternoon at the Bison
Sports Arena. NDSU athletic director Gene Taylor had confirmed
Wednesday that Miles was offered the head coaching spot at the
University of North Carolina-Wilmington.
Miles said there was no formal offer, but he refused to
elaborate "out of respect" for Wilmington's job search.
The offer was made a day after a UNC-Wilmington search committee
endorsed North Carolina-Charlotte assistant coach Benny Moss for
the job. Wilmington athletic director Mike Capaccio declined
comment.
"I'm not going to get into the semantics of everything," Miles
said. "I will tell you that Mike Capaccio and I had discussions
specific to the job."
Capaccio and Miles both have degrees from the University of Mary
in Bismarck.
"Mike Capaccio was great through this whole process," Miles
said. "I'm indebted to him for giving me an opportunity to go out
in an area that's out of our region."
The Wilmington job opened up when Brad Brownell resigned to
accept a position at Wright State in Ohio.
Miles was hired by the Bison in 2001 and signed a five-year
contract extension in 2004. He and his assistant coaches recently
received raises, he said.
"I'm greatly appreciative of that," Miles said. "Money's
great and all, don't get me wrong, but that's not what this was
about."
The interest in Miles shows that NDSU is more than "a
transitional Division I independent," Bison athletic director Gene
Taylor said.
"I'm obviously pleased that Tim is staying," Taylor said.
"But if we would have taken the job, we certainly would have
patted him on the back and wished him a lot of luck."
Taylor noted that two other Bison coaches, as well as school
president Joseph Chapman, recently decided to stay at NDSU instead
of pursuing offers at other schools.
"I think it speaks volumes about NDSU as an institution and as
an athletic program," Taylor said.
Miles has a career record at NDSU of 79-63, including a 16-12
mark this past season in the school's first year as a Division I
team. He has a 192-124 record in 11 years as a collegiate head
coach.
The Bison received national attention by beating Wisconsin on
the road last season.
"I'm happy to be here," Miles said. "We have more work to
do."