Illinois State
the shoes at the start of MVC play, the team hasn’t lost. The players and coaching staff don’t bury their pain.
Likewise, Muller says, the team does not shy away from talking about “the elephant in the room.” That would be the goal of reaching the NCAA tournament.
Muller arrived at Illinois State in 2012 with an obvious mission: Get the Redbirds back to the Big Dance. He knows the fan base is starving and how close the program has been to eclipsing the MVC’s longest NCAA tourney drought of 18 years; they’ve played in four of the last nineMVC tournament finals.
Muller says, “I think we can play with anyone in the country. ... I think we’re one of the best, if not the best, midmajors in the country.”
Yet as confident as he and his players are, Muller knows one bad week can be the difference between the NCAA tournament and the NIT. Illinois State’s credentials— a Ratings Percentage Index of 34 but no top- 60 non- conference wins — might perhaps pass a blind résumé test. But it’s never that simple.
Should the Redbirds not claim the MVC’s bid by winning the league tournament in St. Louis, USA TODAY Sports bracketologist Shelby Mast thinks they have a decent shot at landing an at- large bid— arare occurrence for midmajors— only if they win atWichita State on Saturday and don’t suffer a bad loss.
Since taking over first place in the MVC with a convincing 76- 62 victory Jan. 14 against the conference’s most successful program, Wichita State, Lee says the Redbirds have had a constant target on their back.
“When you’re No. 1 in the conference, you’re getting everyone’s best shot,” he says. “I think, so far, we’ve responded the right way. The key has been on defense. … We take pride in our defense and let it start our offense. We aren’t afraid to call each other out if one of us gets beat.”
That defensive accountability and high standard is part of the culture Muller brought to the program. But the 40year- old coach credits his personal relationships with players as a major component to the program’s success. And he learned that fromWard.
“The tragedy helped me grow as a coach and a man,” Muller says. “For the older guys, we’ve been through it together. That’s why we keep it close to us.”