The Daily Hoosier

Look: Miller Kopp names 100 things he learned during his five year college career

March 24, 2023 TDH Staff IUBB 5

Indiana forward Miller Kopp became the all-time leader in Big Ten games played during the 2022-23 season.

And with all of that experience came a wealth of knowledge according to the Houston, Texas product.

On his Twitter page, Kopp posted 100 things he learned over the course of his five year college career that included three years at Northwestern and two at Indiana.

The list ended up being a few short of 100 as a few items didn’t seem to make it over from Kopp’s list to Twitter when he had to break them down into individual posts to meet the character restriction.

Here’s what Kopp had to say:

I’m the all time leader in Big 10 games played. 5 years. 157 High Major D1 basketball games (Started 144). Here are 100 things I’ve learned through it ALL: (Touches on big10 coaches, lessons, media these days, tips for players/parents etc)

///HOOPS THREAD///

1. College hoops takes a toll on your body (longest season in NCAA/travel)

2. Best ability is availability. Straight up

3. BIG 10 is the most grueling conference by far (I stand by this for many reasons)

4. Your role as a player can and will change as the years go on.

5. As you get older, winning becomes more important than when you were a freshman. You grow up

6. As a freshman the only goal was to find a way on the floor (Kellen Sampson gave me INCREDIBLE advice before I went to NU that sticks with me today)

7. Get in the weight room

ON COACHES

9. Coaches want to win. It’s how they feed their family

10. Coaches will play who they trust

11. Be early. To absolutely everything

12. Doing extra is not extra, it should be the standard

13. Stick to your guns no matter what. Be unapologetically you

14. It’s easy to make excuses, easy to blame a coach or situation. It’s a lot harder to ignore and put your head down and work.

15. It’s never as good or as bad as it seems

16. Routine routine routine. Find one &stick with it. (Stretching, lifting, shooting) Helped. Consistency

To PLAYERS

17. Ask your seniors questions. They know more than you lol

18. Be a great teammate

19. Love your teammates

20. Hold teammates accountable

21. Always be in the gym

22. Write down goals and attack

23. Don’t be afraid to talk to your head coach 1v1. Walk into his office

24. Be a pro

25. You can still help your team even if you aren’t playing

26. Get over yourself

27. Decide what you want in a school and go there because of that. (I wanted different things at NU and IU)

28. The people matter the most

29. You can and will be replaced. How it is

30. Take advantage of the games you get to play against guys your staff tried to recruit over you. Keep receipts

31. It’s okay to be a little crazy

32. Ask yourself “what would you do if you weren’t afraid? If you were immune to fear?”

33. Stay in shape. Always

Be a SAVANT

34. The basketball Gods are real (Collins taught me this one lol)

35. Can’t cheat the game ^^

36. You can get on the court by knowing where everyone is supposed to be

37. Watching film on player tendencies will help 1v1 defense. Majority of time guys catch the ball in the same situations, go to same moves. etc

38. Find the little things that have a big ROI and keep doing those

39. Sleep more

40. Nutrition will set you apart

41. College basketball is a production, it’s an event and truly entertainment

42. NIL changed the portal and recruiting

43. Media is only getting bigger and bigger

44. People will talk about you regardless, might as well give em a show

45. When you go home for summer break, Christmas break, etc, you have to workout. Have a gym and weight room locked in

46. Coaches form opinions on players the first week they’re on campus and rarely change those opinions

47. There are more good guys than bad guys out there

48. Start twitter beef with Portnoy

49. March Madness wins are so awesome

50. Sweeping Purdue is sweet

51. Losing sucks

52. NU classes aren’t as hard as people think

53. It’s the people and experiences that matter most

54. The same coaches and programs win every year for a reason. It’s no surprise

55. Culture and talent is what every program should be striving for. Need both

57. Coach Woody is obsessed with hoops. Could talk for hours. And does

58. Young kids need to go to find a situation that fits them

59. If the head coach isn’t recruiting you then forget about it

60. Ask people questions

61. You have to believe your way is the best.

62. Truth should be told whether you like it or not

63. Schools that recruit NY and Texas seem to win a lot of games

64. Playing at a blue blood is not the same as any other school. For a million reasons

65. Saying “yessir” is a lost art.

66. Only 5 can start. Talent vs Production. Have to outwork

67. There are a lot of things out of your control

68. Put the coach in a position that he has to play you

69. Understand your coaches goals and philosophies on a day to day basis

70. Pray

71. Shake Izzo’s hand hard

72. Juwan Howard does a good job hiding his play calls

73. Purdue has play names that only Jon Gruden could come up with

75. Micah Shrewsberry is a guy dudes love to play for. Gives them ultimate confidence

76. Ben Johnson probably consumes 100 cough drops during a game.Talking

78. Some teams have teams have offensive coordinators and defensive coordinators. Kinda weird to me

79. When we do scouts we go so in depth they know which way a dude wipes when he’s on the toilet

80. College basketball coaches never sleep

81. Grad Assistants never ever sleep

82. It’s a different animal being a head coach

83. Basketball is simple

84. Politics are real

85. 99% of twitter doesn’t know hoops. Dont buy into it. Prob couldn’t name ghost screen, floppy action, ball-screen continuity, sweep action, etc. Even the “basketball guys” . Few

86. Rent is due every day

87. Toughness can’t be taught or coached. Needs to be recruited

88. Only focus on what you can control

89. Grass isn’t always greener, but it certainly can be

90. Most kids are put a role before they even get on campus

91. Winning cures all. Seriously

92. 82 game NBA season has to be roughhhh on the body

93. You should steal reps in practice and workouts

94. You’re competing ever single day for playing time

95. You better stay ready because you might get thrown in the fire

96. Trust your gut

97. Live on the edge. Its better

98. Trust your coaches and teammates

99. Call your mom

100. It all ends eventually

If you made it this far I appreciate you

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