MURRAY, Ky. — The past four months have been a blur for new Murray State Head Men’s Basketball Coach Ryan Miller, from getting hired as the new Racers head coach in March to his final youth camps of the summer, which started Monday.

“Time always flies,” Miller said.

In that span, Miller hired a new staff, brought in 15 new players, crafted the bulk of his non-conference schedule, one that includes trips to the Cayman Islands and Las Vegas, but before that, the team is heading to a summer tour to the Bahamas in early August, where the Racers will play three exhibition games and get extra time together to practice.

“We get some good trips [this season],” senior forward JJ Traynor said. “It’s been a little interesting this summer because with the extra hours since we’re going to the Bahamas… we’re prepping to play teams, so it’s kind of ramped up a bit. So it’s been fun and we’ve been getting to work. We’re going down to the Bahamas to gel and have a good time, but also to win and see where we’re at.”

Miller said the goal this summer for the Racers was to establish and build the team chemistry. Part of that is off the court, where the team has participated in pickleball and bowling tournaments.

“It’s the most important thing that we’ve tried to accomplish this summer, just because, like I said, we’re from all walks of life,” Miller said. “The last two weeks of this summer is going to be just keep creating that bond. Keep stacking bricks on that bond. So as we go through this season, it’s a very challenging season that’s going to be ahead of us, [so] when we hit adversity, we can push through that adversity.”

Players say they’ve been able to make steps towards accomplishing that goal both on and off the court.

“We gelled pretty quickly,” Traynor said. “We always eat dinner and breakfast together just so we’re always around each other… Off the court, we’re all goofballs. We’re all joking and yeah, it’s just a good group of guys.”

“There are no bad dudes, there are no head cases; everyone is bought in to winning and bought in to helping each other,” senior guard Ben Shtolzberg added.

As for on the court, the Racers will have a brand-new fast-paced system on offense. Shtolzberg said while he isn’t going to single anyone out when asked who has impressed him the most, he says everybody on the team has stood out in their individual ways.

“I feel bad for the coaches; they have to decide who’s playing because you have so many dudes who are playing well and playing hard,” Shtolzberg said. “I’m excited to get on the court. I’m excited to play in front of the great fans at Murray State. It’s going to be an incredible year. It really is.”

“The coaches have made it clear that we should cherish our roles and be that, so somebody else might be a knockdown shooter and that’s what they do, and then somebody else, if we need a rebounder, that’s what they bring, or defense, everybody is catering to their role and I think that’s what makes a really good team,” Traynor added. “We’re going to play fast, we’ve got some athletic guys, we’ve got a lot of shooters, we can play defense… I played at Louisville and DePaul and I think this is the biggest team I’ve been on height wise, so yeah, it’s exciting.”

The Racers will tip off their trip to the Bahamas on August 4.