Hunting has been the firm mentality of Travis Steele and the Miami (OH) RedHawks basketball program throughout his time there, exceeding expectations with each season.
Following a historic campaign last season that featured an NCAA Tournament appearance, they remain confident about their approach even with the notion that opposing teams may be the ones hunting them this time around. Steele showed that to be the key growth of the program as they look to continue making noise across the nation as a contender.
“The way you grow the program is embracing the process and not skipping any steps. We got a staff that understands that, and we got players that understand that. Hopefully, we can take the next step as a program this year,” Steele said in an interview with ClutchPoints.
“We [weren't] going to sneak up on anybody last year, and we're sure as heck not going to sneak up on anybody this year. We will always be the aggressor in everything that we do. We're always going to be the hunter, not the hunted. That's our mentality. It's part of our core values. We attack every single moment. That's how we attack practice. But again, it's a sign of respect to our program. But we're gonna get everybody's best shot, and that's what you want as a true competitor.”
Travis Steele reflects on growth throughout coaching career
Steele has been the RedHawks' head coach since 2022, gearing up for his fifth season. He is coming off an incredible 2025-26 campaign in which the team went undefeated in the regular season and made the NCAA Tournament before ending their campaign with a 32-2 record.
Steele has achieved so much success with the squad, but he knows there is still long way up for the team to accomplish more goals. He credits his time at Xavier for getting him to this point of his career, having been an assistant since 2009 before serving as the Musketeers' head coach for four seasons from 2018 to 2022.
“You become the culmination of your experiences, and I would say what's helped kind of prepare me for the moment for the opportunity here at Miami was probably my head coaching experience that I had at Xavier, and you learn how you want your non-negotiables, how exactly you want to be able to do things. I want the program to feel, look, smell from day one,” Steele said.
Steele comes from a coaching tree that saw him learn under Kelvin Sampson at Indiana before becoming an assistant for Sean Miller, Chris Mack and Thad Matta at Xavier. These opportunities, where he experienced multiple runs in the NCAA Tournament, helped prepare him for the responsibilities and expectations that come with being a head coach. He also doesn't worry about expectations as he maintains his focus on the vision he has for the program.
“I haven't deviated from that here at Miami and everything's about fit. I think it’s more important than ever, especially in this landscape that we're in; it truly is that,” he said. “And I found a staff that really fits me. We got a great staff, and then we have really good basketball players that fit me and fit our style of play, fit our culture, so it goes. There's a lot of layers to it, but I would say just my experience at Xavier probably more than anything, and then also again that gave me a really crystal-clear vision of what I wanted this program to look like here at Miami.”
The RedHawks' win total improved every year under Steele. Going from 12 and 15 wins his first two years, they significantly improved to 25 wins in 2024-25 before earning 32 victories the following season. This featured a perfect 18-0 showing in MAC contests, winning the conference's regular-season title. Despite suffering an early exit from the MAC Tournament after losing to UMass, Miami (OH) still qualified for the NCAA Tournament with an at-large bid.
The RedHawks proved themselves to be quite the viable squad in the tournament. They took down the SMU Mustangs in the First Four before falling to the Tennessee Volunteers in the Round of 64.
Miami (OH) will have plenty of eyes on it following their historic run in the regular season and March Madness. While Steele understands fans wanting similar results next season, he emphasized that the program's true growth involves them going through the process in the best way possible.
“I know everybody wants results, but it's more about the pressure is doing the process right and holding everybody accountable in our program every single day to hold that standard every single day, like practice, film, how’s our nutrition, how we sleep, making our culture come to life,” he said. “How am I becoming a better teacher, right? Of our system, are there better? Because there's always better ways to do things, right? And you're always searching for those as a coach, and like I would say that is, and that's kind of how I'm wired, anyway.”
Travis Steele's determination to have more success at Miami (OH)
Mid-major coaches achieving historic success would have the chance to find bigger job opportunities in more prestigious leagues. Dusty May stands out as a major example after coaching Florida Atlantic to the Final Four in 2023 before departing for the Big Ten's Michigan Wolverines the following year. Fast forward to present day, he's now coaching the Dallas Mavericks in the NBA after leading Michigan to the national championship in 2026.
Steele is well aware of the openings that come about for coaches like him after winning a lot of games with Miami (OH) and getting them to the Big Dance. However, he feels he hasn't completed his mission with the RedHawks, explaining his reason to return to the program for this upcoming season.
“The reason I came back, to be quite frank, to Miami is because I feel like the job isn't finished yet. I want to try to get this place to where it's never been before, and to an Elite Eight level, Final Four level, and it can be done,” Steele said. “I think people out there saying, ‘All right, well, hey, it's harder for the mid majors now with NIL and all this stuff.’ Yeah, it is, but things can always be done. And if you have a group of people pulling all in the same direction, that all fit together, they got to fit together really well, great things can happen.”
Player retention has been difficult for many coaches throughout college basketball, especially in the current era of NIL. Star talents often take advantage of the big offers from high-majors and blue-blood schools, leaving mid-majors in a tough spot regarding which players they can manage to keep for each season.
Miami (OH) was unable to keep everyone this past offseason. Peter Suder, who led the team with 14.8 points per game, made his way up the NBA ranks as an undrafted player. Brant Byers, who won MAC Freshman of the Year in 2025, transferred to Penn State. Meanwhile, Eian Elmer departed for the Wisconsin Badgers.
Fortunately for Steele, he had several players who played key roles in last year's historic campaign return to the squad this season. He named the trio of Luke Skaljac, Almar Atlason and Evan Ipsaro as the standouts who will be the team's captains throughout the course of the upcoming campaign.
“Luke Skaljac's been tremendous. He's taken another step as a player. I thought he was playing as good as any guard in our league last year at the end of the season. He kind of got thrusted into the starting point guard position when Evan Ipsaro went down with an injury halfway through the year, and he did a phenomenal job. But Luke's been awesome,” he said.
“Almar Atlason has been absolutely terrific. Yeah, he's had a great offseason. Changed his body. He'll play a little bit more of his natural position. He'll play the four. Last year, he had to play a little bit more five for us, which was harder for him defensively, but he's been awesome. I mean, just his IQ, his skill set, his shooting. He looks like an all-league guy. Obviously, Evan Ipsaro is coming back from injury, and he's been cleared here recently. He looks terrific. It's good to have him back out there. You forget what it feels like having him out there on the floor.”
Article Continues BelowMiami (OH) amazed basketball fans with its explosive attack last season. They boasted a top-five offense in the country, averaging a whopping 89.6 points per game. Five players scored in double-figures throughout the campaign, including Ipsaro and Skaljac. Atlason was nearly the sixth with 9.9 points per game off the bench.
Steele acknowledged that one of his biggest mistakes at Xavier was not using his bench more throughout the ups and downs of a season. He learned his lesson, putting full trust in his rotation players to produce on the court as he has done for the RedHawks so far.
“We'll play nine guys, and we got more than nine good players, which is a good problem to have. But it's a problem nevertheless. I think one of our strengths is going to be obviously our ability to move the ball, share the ball, passing. Shooting is very good, and I think we're bigger, and I think on defense that will really show in our back line man-to-man defense,” Steele said.
Steele emphasized the importance of moving on from last season's success in preparation for the 2026-27 season. The upcoming campaign presents its own different set of challenges for the team, having the head coach wanting everyone to press reset before playing their first regular-season game in November.
“We gotta start all the way back over to put ourselves in this position again next year, right? I had those conversations with each of our players in their end-of-season meetings,” he said. “If you're not willing to do that, then go elsewhere. If I'm not willing to do that, then I need to retire. For the staff, that too. If we're not willing to press reset and restart all the way over, then man, we should go sell insurance or do something different, right? Like I said, that is easier said than done. But again, that player leadership, I always go back to that. We have incredible player leadership here, and it's been a big key to our success.”
Miami (OH)'s issues of scheduling big games against high-majors last year remains the same this year. They have no games against blue blood schools or Power-5 squads, but they made up for it by having quality matchups against talented mid-major teams like James Madison, Wright State, and High Point, among others. On the bright side, they managed to secure more home games this time around. They also have more conference games to deal with, seeing the MAC go from 18 last year to 22 conference matchups this season.
“We're in a better position home game-wise, which made it a little bit easier. It's hard to get home games. We don't have a high-major P5 on our schedule this year, which people are going to complain about. But again, I could care less. You can focus on the things you could control, right? I can't control that. Like I said, it takes two to tango,” Steele said.
“I hope as we continue to build our brand here, hopefully it'll become easier to where we get closer to being a quad one game where then it would make a ton of sense for all these teams to play us. They'll want to play us, right? And we got to give them a reason to do that, right? And I think as we continue to grow our brand, I think hopefully that'll become easier.”
The RedHawks' campaign will get underway with an intriguing mid-major matchup. They clash with the James Madison Dukes as tip-off commences on Nov. 2 at 7 p.m. EST.