Wichita State introduced Paul Mills as its new head men's basketball coach on Thursday afternoon in front of a large gathering at Charles Koch Arena. Here are Mills' opening remarks in their entirety.
 

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HEAD COACH PAUL MILLS ON:
 
…Opening statement…
"Shocker Nation, it is an absolute honor. I am humbled to be here. Please know that on behalf of my wife and two daughters, Audrey and Abbey, not only are we excited, but I wish this stuff tipped off tomorrow. We graciously accept the opportunity here. We are not timid about this process. We know people expect to win, and I can assure you that my entire family expects to win too, so we could not be more excited about this opportunity. I want to thank President Muma, I want to thank Kevin [Saal] for all that they've done through this entire process to aid us. I want you to know that I'm about people. As much as I wanted my gift to be playing basketball as a young kid growing up, my gift was helping, and I realized that, and people are priority. I will prioritize these players over everything else that I do. The people are the most important thing, and to be able to help these guys achieve their dreams is the goal and my motivation behind why I do this, but people are also important inside Koch Arena, and having been here a few times, I understand the decibel levels that it gets because I was on the wrong side of those levels, and the people here, the passionate fanbase, the rich history, the winning tradition made this a no brainer for my family and I. As Kevin mentioned, I coached at Baylor for 14 years and was with Coach Drew during times that weren't easy. We won one game my second year there although it was a long year, obviously, and we were No. 1 in the country the last year I left, so I watched the pendulum swing, and Coach Drew and Baylor came here, and they lost, and they lost bad, and he said, 'I've never been in an environment like that before,' as I spoke to him about half an hour after the game, and I said, 'The people there are extremely special.' And the next year, Wichita State went to Baylor, and they won that one, too. So obviously, I couldn't believe that Wichita State was ranked eighth in homecourt advantage. Our goal is to get to number one. And the way that we do that is we support these people, these young men who wear this jersey. I want you to know that I will represent you well. I look forward to having a staff that represents you well. I look forward to coaching players that represent you well, but I could not be more excited about being a part of Shocker Nation, and I know the expectations here, but we want to exceed them. Thank you."
 
…Putting a roster together:
"The first thing is you have meetings with the current players. At the end of the day, you want to find players who are committed and find people who are committed to Wichita State University and continuing the winning tradition. Players texted me the other night after I got their phone numbers, and they said, 'I can't wait to get back to winning,' and it's been done around here a lot. You understand that there's a standard here, so the first thing you want to do is find players who are committed, and obviously a lot of these gentlemen sit right there on that second row, but there are also a number of players across the country who want to be a part and play in front of a passionate fanbase, so I don't think it's going to be difficult putting a roster together that's good enough to win championships."
 
…The recruiting process involving the transfer portal:
"The game has changed. The framework of the NCAA has changed in the last couple of years, and the portal allows you to locate young men, but it's not just locating talent; it's locating fit. I grew up in Houston, and when Wendy and I moved when I was a high school coach, I lived right next to the Houston Rockets practice facility, and Rudy Tomjanovich, who was the coach there, told me one day, "It's not about getting together talent; it's about creating a team, and that's different.' So you're trying to find people who fit, trying to put together a team that represents Shocker Nation, that people can get behind and support."