#215: Paul Mills is the head men's basketball coach at Wichita State University. Prior to his tenure at Wichita State, Mills served as the head coach at Oral Roberts University from 2017 to 2023. Under his leadership, the Golden Eagles achieved significant success, including a historic Sweet 16 appearance in the 2021 NCAA Tournament as a 15-seed, making them just the second team in history to reach that stage from such a low seed. In the 2022–23 season, Mills guided ORU to a 30–5 record, an undefeated 18–0 run through the Summit League, and a No. 12 seed in the NCAA Tournament. His coaching prowess earned him recognition as a finalist for the Jim Phelan National Coach of the Year award and the NABC’s Skip Prosser Man of the Year honor. 

Before his time at Oral Roberts, Mills spent 14 years at Baylor University, initially as a coordinator of operations from 2003 to 2009 and then as an assistant coach from 2009 to 2017. During his tenure, Baylor made seven NCAA Tournament appearances, including two Elite Eight and four Sweet 16 berths. 

Mills began his coaching career at the high school level, leading his teams to multiple district championships. He also served as the director of basketball operations at Rice University for one year. Mills is a 1996 graduate of Texas A&M University with a degree in finance and completed a Master of Biblical and Theological Studies from Dallas Theological Seminary in 2020.

On the show Coach Mills shares his story of growing up, playing basketball, overcoming a career ending injury, getting into coaching, impact, stewardship, service, hard work, deeds over words, sustaining success, faith, and much more. 

Enjoy the show! 

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