Archie Miller has made a bundle of public appearances, spent hours developing a rapport with his players and thrown himself full-bore into recruiting since becoming the University of Dayton basketball coach in April.

And while he’s still a month from coaching his first game, he did tackle one more responsibility of the job this week: conduct his first staff meeting.

Miller said he and his assistants have been so focused on acquiring new players that they hadn’t met to discuss how they planned to coach the ones already on board.

“We were sitting in the office, and we’re breaking down practice — planning the big decisions about how you play, what you run,” Miller said. “I don’t think our staff has sat and talked basketball. It was like, wow, it’s really the first time. The season must be coming around. You start gearing in a whole different mode.”

The Flyers held their preseason media day Tuesday and will start practice Friday. They’ll have just eight days before their first public appearance in the Red and Blue scrimmage at UD Arena at 7 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 22.

Miller’s first team will have just 10 scholarship players, not exactly ideal when you consider the playing rotation of previous coach Brian Gregory often exceeded that.

“I feel like a lot of these guys are going to have an opportunity to play because our numbers aren’t as great,” Miller said. “We don’t have that tremendous depth inside or even in the backcourt. I think we have good pieces, but I don’t think we have masses of them.”

Miller will be relying much on his newly christened captains: Paul Williams, Luke Fabrizius, Chris Johnson and Josh Parker. “I know they have a lot of pride about going out a winner because they came in with one,” Miller said.

He may be handling a grease board much more often starting this week, but that doesn’t mean recruiting has stopped. The former assistant at Arizona, Ohio State and North Carolina State may be an anomaly in college basketball. Many coaches view recruiting as a necessary evil, but Miller said courting prospects is one of the best parts of his job.

“I think you have to love recruiting,” he said. “If you don’t love recruiting, I don’t think you’ll do it (well).”

Miller subscribes to the theory that winning depends not so much on the X’s-and-O’s as it does the Jimmy-and-Joes.

“At the end of the day, it really doesn’t matter how good a coach you are. In college basketball, coaching is such a small percentage of what makes you good. Recruiting is the name of the game,” he said. “You have to have a philosophy of development and making guys better and understanding that when you get them here, you’ve got to improve them. But so much of you (as a coach) is who you have.”

He’s traveled from New Hampshire to Texas to recruit players, sometimes making multiple trips to one place to woo a prospect. He’s gotten two verbal commitments among seniors in forward Jalen Robinson of Columbus and point guard Jevon Thomas of New York City. Miller has three more scholarships to give in the 2012 class, although he said he’ll bank at least one in case a promising player wants to transfer to UD.

Miller, 32, and his wife, Morgan, have just purchased a home in Kettering. He said he’s already adapted to his new environment. But then again, he’s always felt comfortable wherever he’s lived.

“I’m one of those guys, quite frankly, put me anywhere and I’m going to be able to do it — because at the end of the day you have to really rely on people,” he said. “If you’re totally committed to your players and you’re totally committed to your staff and you believe in what you do, the surrounding area (is) going to be able to help you or they’re going to get out of the way.

“But one thing about this place since I’ve been here is there’s not a more welcoming community or a more passionate fan base or been (a group) more excited about the program.”

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2125 or dharris@DaytonDailyNews.com.