Miles leaves NDSU for Colorado State
Tim Miles shunned an offer last year, but it looks like he couldn’t turn this one away.
The Associated Press and several other sources reported that Miles, the NDSU men’s basketball coach, has taken the head coaching job at Colorado State.
Miles will replace former CSU coach Dale Layer. CSU, a school in Fort Collins, Colo., finished 17-13 this season.
The Rams beat NDSU each of the last two seasons and will travel to Fargo next season for another game.
“The track record over the last seven seasons has not been good,” CSU athletic director Paul Kowalczyk said to a Colorado newspaper after Layer was fired Monday, March 12. “We need to reinvigorate the program and get our fans excited and get people back at Moby (Arena).
Last spring, Miles was a leading candidate for the University of North Carolina-Wilmington head coaching position but opted to stay at NDSU.
The details of Miles’ contract are not known, but Layer was scheduled to make $185,000 next season.
Shortly after Miles turned down the UNC-W job last year, he received a five-year contract extension, and his salary increased from $93,500 to around $115,000.
Layer’s contract was bought out after seven years at the school. His team’s never finished higher than fifth place in the Mountain West Conference regular season.
Teams in the MWC are: Nevada-Las Vegas, Air Force, Brigham Young University, New Mexico, San Diego State University, Texas Christian University, Utah and Wyoming.
CSU won the MWC tournament in 2003 and advanced to the NCAA Tournament. Two MWC teams, BYU and UNLV, qualified for this year’s NCAA Tournament.
Miles finishes at NDSU with a record of 99-71. Prior to coaching the Bison, he spent four years at Southwest Minnesota State and went 78-39. He also coached at NAIA school Mayville State and went 35-22.