MEN'S BASKETBALL: Eastern hires Tim Miser to lead Mountaineers

Jun. 8—The Mountaineers have found their new leader.

Eastern Oklahoma State College announced Tuesday the hire of Tim Miser as the newest men's basketball head coach for the Mountaineers.

Athletic Director Matt Parker said he was excited about the hire, and thinks Miser will be a great addition to the Mountaineer family — adding he became familiar with him at a previous stop.

"We're pumped to have Tim. I got to watch him while I was at Wesleyan and he was at Southwestern, which is in our conference," Parker said. "He started as kind of the GA and the last several years had been an associate head coach. And I just think when you've been there that long and consistently put together a winner as a recruiting guy, I think there's something for that."

Miser replaces Scott Edgar, who retired after more than four decades as a coach.

In a release from the school, Miser said he was thankful for the opportunity and is looking forward to getting to work.

"I want to thank Dr. Janet Wansick and Director of Athletics Matt Parker for giving me this opportunity," Miser said. "I am extremely humbled and excited to be the next head men's basketball coach at Eastern Oklahoma State College, and to work with such a close-knit environment where everyone cares and values each other.

"In addition to Eastern's leadership, I want to thank all the coaches, student-athletes, and administration who have helped prepare me for this opportunity. I can't wait to get to work," he added.

Originally from Emporia, Kansas, Miser began his collegiate career as a player at Allen County Community College in Iola, Kansas. He next attended Southwestern College in Winfield, Kansas, where he earned both a bachelors and masters degree, and has spent the last three years at the college as associate head coach.

While at Southwestern, Miser and the Moundbuilders won two Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference championships and earned five National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics national tournament appearances — reaching the round of 16 in back-to-back seasons.

The Moundbuilders led the KCAC in scoring three times, and were among the top two in four of the last five years. Southwestern also ranked amongst the best in the conference in both field goal and three-point percentages in that same time frame.

Miser's team also got the job done in the classroom, as the Moundbuilders won two National Champions of Character team awards, a National Association of Basketball Coaches Team Academic Excellence Award, and were named as an NAIA scholar team — earning a collective GPA greater than 3.0 — four times.

Miser takes over from Scott Edgar, who retired this season after being the head of the Mountaineers men's basketball program since 2010. Previously to Eastern, Edgar was an assistant at New Mexico Military, Tulsa, and Arkansas before his first head coaching jobs at Murray State in 1991 and Duquesne in 1995.

Edgar moved back into an assistant role at Texas Christian University, University of Alabama at Birmingham, and Tennessee before returning to a head coaching role at Southeast Missouri State in 2006.

Edgar has amassed more than 300 wins in his career. While in Wilburton, he led the Mountaineers to back-to-back Region 2 Championships in 2011 and 2012 — finishing as a national semifinalist at the National Junior College Athletic Association National Tournament in 2012.

Parker said he was excited to see Miser build upon the foundation Edgar built and his success at Southwestern as he and the Mountaineers embark into a new era.

"We had some good applicants, and we ultimately decided that Tim was the right guy," he said. "It was the right time for him to get his shot as head coach, and we couldn't be happier that he took us up on it."

Contact Derek Hatridge at dhatridge@mcalesternews.com.