For the second time in a month, the Oral Roberts head basketball coach is the Bill Haisten Podcast guest. Paul Mills was in that position on March 3. As Mills last week accepted the head-coaching position at Wichita State, his top ORU assistant – Russell Springmann – was promoted to the top job at ORU.
Springmann reflects on ORU’s two recent runs to the NCAA Tournament, on the greatness of Mills as a practice coach and on having discovered a 10th-grader – Kevin Durant – during a basketball event in Maryland. Springmann at that time was on the Texas staff. Before any other big-time program offered a scholarship to Durant, Springmann and Texas did. It worked out pretty well for the Longhorns.
At ORU, Springmann inherits a hot Golden Eagle program that soon will benefit from the Mike Carter Center – one of the more dazzling practice facilities in college basketball.

Related
Bill Haisten: ORU names Russell Springmann as head coach — shades of 1997
ORU coach Russell Springmann: 'We will play a brand of basketball that is exciting'
Paul Mills on leaving ORU for Wichita State: 'I'm just so grateful for the opportunity here'
Russell Springmann on promotion to ORU head coach: 'This is a new beginning'
Throwback Tulsa: ORU earns Sweet 16 berth by defeating Florida two years ago
Bill Haisten: Proactive ORU wants to keep Paul Mills for '20 more years’
Paul Mills: ORU's 30-win season 'will fuel us moving forward'
Throwback Tulsa: When ORU hosted the NCAA Tournament in 1974

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