The Arizona State Sun Devils are off to a historic start to the season, thanks in part to the leadership of head coach Molly Miller. After most recently guiding Grand Canyon University to its first NCAA Tournament, Miller was ready for all the challenges ASU has to offer. The Sun Devils are 12-0 for the first time in program history, a year removed from only winning 10 games. With Miller now at the helm, ASU has become a dangerous team in more ways than one. While her prior success is paying off with the Sun Devils so far, Miller is prepared to face her toughest challenge with Big 12 conference play on the horizon.

Miller’s coaching journey started at Drury University before she went to GCU. In her first season at ASU, Miller's experiences beforehand have taught her to adapt to the game's evolution without changing what makes a good program.

“The biggest thing [I’ve learned] is you have to grow with the game and not be locked into a certain way of doing things,” Miller told World Exposure Report. “You have to evolve with our game, because it is evolving… I’m not really stuck in my ways, like there’s some non-negotiables that I have, which is the culture of [the] program, and how we play the game, and how we represent the program…that’s [how] it’s always been at every stop [with] Drury, at GCU, and now Arizona State….”

As the game has grown and changed through the years, Miller has learned to embrace any changes while sticking with her beliefs of how programs become successful. Although the Sun Devils have started the Miller era with a spotless record thus far, her team still conducts itself with an underdog mentality. That mindset has helped ASU get to where it is right now, but it doesn’t come as a surprise given Miller’s competitive spirit. With a desire to improve every day and make the most out of every opportunity, her ambition to succeed proves that she is never satisfied.

“I think it starts [at] the top and [my] competitive nature and how I'm wired and dissatisfied all the time,” Miller said. “[My underdog mentality comes from] just wanting to improve every day and get the most out of your practices and your players and your program…we had to assemble a whole new roster, and we were pretty particular with who we wanted to bring on board for this first round, because you don't get a second chance to make a first impression. We wanted to start this thing off the right way, and a lot of credit goes to the staff, and these kids for buying in…”

While Miller had all the odds stacked against her starting a new journey at Arizona State from scratch, her team’s ability to buy into her vision has been vital to their early success this year. Although many other teams with a perfect record are led by a superstar player, the Sun Devils have a unique approach to winning. Arizona State’s defense has been a key part of its unblemished record, and will continue to serve them well down the road. Thus far, the Sun Devils have won games solely on their defensive effort, which is important because they play in a conference filled with some of the best defenses in the country. While the season is still young, ASU ranks fourth in the Big 12 in points allowed, averaging 53.6 per game. Miller consistently emphasizes the importance of defense to her team in every game because it requires a united front on that end of the floor.

“You can take [a good defense] anywhere, and it doesn't really rely on an advanced skill set,” she explained. “You might not be the most talented team on the court, but if you are all in sync when it comes to defensive principles, defensive intensity, the defensive brand, making things just difficult and disrupting the other team on offense, you're going to find yourself in a lot of ball games….”

Miller’s defense has disrupted everyone her team has played, which has been important to having a perfect record early on. Another area that ASU has excelled in is rebounding, which goes hand-in-hand with a good defense. The Sun Devils rank fifth in the Big 12 in rebounding, averaging 42.2 per game, which shows that they understand the importance of finishing defensive possessions the right way. Miller reassured that while a good defensive effort is important, rebounding is vital to finishing off those possessions the right way. 

“We say in our program, a rebound finishes the defensive effort on a play, but it also starts your offensive effort in the changeover,” Miller said. “So it’s really, really important to rebound and put an exclamation mark on how much you just did for 24 seconds of the shot clock, or whatever it may be to finish [a possession] out.”

For Arizona State, rebounding is a way to finish defensive possessions, but also start their offense as well. While the program isn’t new to playing in the Big 12, Miller is experiencing a first for her coaching career. The conference is filled with some of the best teams in the nation, which Miller has prepared the Sun Devils for so far with the non-conference slate. While they have been tested through the first portion of the year, the biggest measure of who they are will come during conference play. In preparation for Big 12 play, Miller reflected on the challenges of winning and the importance of building a winning culture.

“Yeah, winning is hard, I mean, sustained success is harder than just going out there and losing games,” Miller said. “We defined that last year [at GCU] when we went 32 and three and had the nation’s longest winning streak before the [NCAA] tournament started. What that looks like is [the] daily habits, and you grow habits by not taking shortcuts and being the example of model behavior, [and] what it takes in the program. So we figured out what winning looks like, [and] we’ve got a bunch of winners on our staff, and now [those] daily habits are showing up every day….”

Miller’s track record has paid dividends in her first season at Arizona State, as she continues to establish a winning culture in the desert. Last season, the Big 12 had seven teams in the NCAA Tournament, and they could have even more this year. Although the Sun Devils are undefeated, they are sure to face adversity playing some of the best teams in the conference. While preparing for adversity isn’t a top priority on Miller’s agenda, she mentioned how focusing on the game in front of them is the best way to deal with wins and losses.

“We don’t talk about [facing adversity] too much, and I know we’re not going to end the season undefeated,” Miller said. “It’s a conversation of [the] process. In that process you have to prepare for each game that’s right in front of you, so this group has done a great job of compartmentalizing that ...so I feel good about our team when we do prepare, and we have that mentality when we step on the court…you can make up all these excuses to say why you shouldn’t win the game, but our focus has not been that…any [kind of] adversity or challenge that comes are way perfect from us, we’ll learn from it, regardless [of] win or loss, but that’s going to be part of our process is embracing those things.”

Although her team hasn’t faced any type of adversity thus far, Miller feels her team will be prepared by focusing on the next task at hand. ASU is in a unique position in year one of the Miller era. While building a program into a contender from scratch takes time, the Sun Devils found success right away, which gives them a promising future. Many coaches at a new program measure success in different ways aside from their win-loss record. While the season is still young for Arizona State, Miller views her first year as a success because they’ve redefined what Sun Devils basketball will look like.

“I wouldn’t point to a record, or I wouldn’t point to a place finish [in the Big 12],” Miller said. “I think, honestly, we’ve [had a successful season]. Now, are we satisfied? No…but we’ve won in the sense that we flipped [the program]. We’ve flipped the culture, we’ve flipped the narrative, [and] we’ve flipped the perception, maybe for recruits, like these things are actively, currently happening…usually this job is not easy because of all the other stresses added to it, but sometimes it’s a lot tougher if you have a team that you don’t enjoy being around. I enjoy being around this team. I really think that’s a win right now for us and the holistic program sake is that the team has gotten us off on the best foot, not because we’re [12-0] but because the culture is there…We’ve already kind of propelled what the brand and the culture needs to look like with this group, and that’s a major win.”