2008 Woodie Awards
Transfer Miles makes voice heard for Hounds
Dave Lomonico
Issue date: 11/6/07 Section: Sports
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Sports Editor
Joe Miles is the wild card, the trump card, if you will. He's the unknown commodity who has the potential to be as good as past Loyola transfers like Andre Collins and Gerald Brown, or merely an afterthought subject to mop-up minutes. The 6-foot transfer from Marshall has been at Loyola for a year: sitting, watching, studying, practicing. But he's yet to see game action. He's shown flashes of brilliance from the guard position, but then again, tons of players practice well and can't adjust come tipoff.
Head coach Jimmy Patsos smiles when Miles's name is mentioned. In practice, he has seen Miles's quickness in the fast break, his uncanny knack for slashing through holes in the defense and his smooth jump shot from outside the arc. It's the love of the unknown. It's the love of Miles's potential. It's sort of like every NFL team on draft day that believes they've selected the next Jerry Rice with their first-round pick.
"Joe's an interesting guy," said Patsos. "We knew what we had in Andre [Collins], we knew what we had in Gerald [Brown], but we don't know what we have in Joe Miles."
Miles flashes a big, toothy grin at the comment.
"I guess Jimmy saw something in me," Miles said. "Hopefully I'll show him what I can do."
We'll find out soon enough - the season opener is Nov. 9.
Joe Miles can "talk the talk"
Perhaps what makes Miles so "interesting" to Patsos and Co. is his personality off the court. For Miles, basketball is only a fraction of his repertoire; he's that all-to-rare athlete who sees life first and basketball second. So while his game awaits its unveiling, Miles has already established himself on the Evergreen campus. And, yes, as a matter of fact, he's loving every minute of it.
It's hard not to accept Joe Miles (the only ones who don't are the defenders he leaves flatfooted on the basketball court). The smile, the off-handed comments, the jokes - he fits right in.
"Joe is loud," said teammate Gerald Brown candidly. "We feed off that … He talks, he brings enthusiasm, motivation."
Brown, of course, was referring to his new point guard's on-the-court demeanor, but the words could just as easily be applied to life outside of basketball. Miles considers himself a "people person," and it's made his transition from Marshall to Loyola a seamless one. It didn't hurt that he's now less than an hour away from his native Washington, D.C., where both his parents live.
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