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Cheryl Miller

For other people named Cheryl Miller, see Cheryl Miller (disambiguation).

Cheryl D. Miller (born January 3, 1964)[1] is an American former basketball player. She was formerly a sideline reporter for NBA games on TNT Sports and also works for NBA TV as a reporter and analyst, having worked previously as a sportscaster for ABC Sports, TBS Sports, and ESPN. She was also head coach and general manager of the WNBA's Phoenix Mercury.

Cheryl Miller
Miller dribbling a basketball
Miller during a game in 1986
Personal information
Born (1964-01-03) January 3, 1964 (age 60)
Riverside, California, U.S.
Listed height6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Listed weight180 lb (82 kg)
Career information
High schoolRiverside Polytechnic
(Riverside, California)
CollegeUSC (1982–1986)
PositionSmall forward
Coaching career1986–present
Career history
As coach:
1986–1991USC (assistant)
1993–1995USC
1997–2000Phoenix Mercury (HC/GM)
2014–2015Langston University
2016–2019Cal State Los Angeles
Career highlights and awards
As player:

As coach:

Basketball Hall of Fame as player
Women's Basketball Hall of Fame
FIBA Hall of Fame as player
Medals
Women's basketball
Representing the  United States
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 1984 Los Angeles Team competition
Pan American Games
Gold medal – first place 1983 Caracas Team competition
Goodwill Games
Gold medal – first place 1986 Moscow Team competition
FIBA World Championship for Women
Silver medal – second place 1983 Rio de Janeiro Team Competition
Gold medal – first place 1986 Moscow Team Competition
Jones Cup
Gold medal – first place 1984 Taipei Team Competition

In 1995, Miller was enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts. In 1999, she was inducted into the inaugural class of the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame, located in Knoxville, Tennessee.[2] On August 20, 2010, Miller was also inducted into the FIBA Hall of Fame for her success in international play.[3]

She is the sister of retired NBA star and fellow Hall of Famer Reggie Miller and former Major League Baseball catcher Darrell Miller.

High school career

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Miller played at Riverside Polytechnic High School (1978–1982) where she was a four-year letter winner and led her team to a 132–4 record. She was awarded the Dial Award for the national high-school scholar-athlete of the year in 1981. She was the first player, male or female, to be named an All-American by Parade magazine four times.[4][5] Averaging 32.8 points and 15.0 rebounds a game, Miller was Street & Smith's national High School Player of the Year in both 1981 and 1982. In her senior year she scored 105 points in a game against Norte Vista High School.[6] She set California state records for points scored in a single season (1156), and points scored in a high school career (3405).[4]

University of Southern California

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Miller in 1984, playing for USC

At the University of Southern California (USC), the 6 feet 2 inches (188 cm) Miller played the forward position. She was a four-year letter winner, scored 3,018 career points (tenth all-time in NCAA history), and was a four-time All-American. Her career rebounding mark of 1,534 ranks her third all-time in NCAA history. Miller was named Naismith College Player of the Year three times and earned the Wade Trophy (Player of the Year) once.[7] At USC, Miller led the Trojans to a 112–20 record and NCAA champion titles in 1983 and 1984 and was named NCAA Tournament MVP both years. Miller's teammates included Cynthia Cooper, two-time WNBA MVP; Pamela McGee, 1984 Olympian and All-American, and Paula McGee, 1982 and 1983 All-American. Miller was coached by Linda K. Sharp, one of college basketball's winningest coaches. In her senior season, Miller picked up her third Naismith Award, the Broderick Award as the Female College Basketball Player of the Year and Sports Illustrated named her the best player in college basketball, male or female.[8] Miller still holds numerous Trojan career records, including points (3,018, 23.6 ppg), rebounds (1,534, 12.0 rpg), field goals made (1,159), free throws made (700), games played (128), and steals (462). Miller's previous Trojan records in assists (414) was almost doubled by Rhonda Windham (735); Lisa Leslie topped her blocked shot record by one (321).[9]

In 1986, Miller was nominated for the James E. Sullivan Award, and in that same year, USC retired her #31 jersey, the first retired jersey of a basketball player, male or female, at USC.[5]

In 1993 she took the head coaching job at her alma mater, USC, after the university chose to fire coach Marianne Stanley.[10]

USC statistics

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Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field goal percentage  3P%  3-point field goal percentage  FT%  Free throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high
Cheryl Miller college statistics[11]
Year Team GP Points FG% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1982–83 USC 33 673 55.1% 73.7% 9.7 3.5 3.5 2.4 20.4
1983–84 USC 33 726 57.0% 75.2% 10.6 3.6 3.2 2.5 22.0
1984–85 USC 30 805 52.8% 69.6% 15.8 2.9 3.9 2.7 26.8
1985–86 USC 32 814 60.9% 75.3% 12.2 2.9 4.0 2.5 25.4
Career 128 3018 56.5% 73.5% 12.0 3.2 3.6 2.5 23.6

USA Basketball

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Miller played for the USA National team in the 1983 World Championships, held in São Paulo, Brazil. The team won six games, but lost two against the Soviet Union. In an opening round game, the USA team had a nine-point lead at halftime, but the Soviets came back to take the lead, and a final shot by the USA failed to drop, leaving the USSR team with a one-point victory 85–84, despite 23 points from Miller. The USA team won their next four games, setting up the gold medal game against USSR. This game was also close, and was tied at 82 points each with six seconds to go in the game. The Soviets' Elena Chausova received the inbounds pass and hit the game winning shot in the final seconds, giving the USSR team the gold medal with a score of 84–82. The USA team earned the silver medal. Miller led the team in scoring, averaging 17.6 points per game, and tied for the lead in rebounding at 4.4 per game.[12]

In 1984, the USA sent its National team to the 1984 William Jones Cup competition in Taipei, Taiwan, for pre-Olympic practice. The team easily beat each of the eight teams they played, winning by an average of just under 50 points per game. Miller led the team in scoring, averaging 15.1 points per game, led the team in rebounding with 4.4 per game and led the team in steals with 27.[13]

Miller led the U.S. team to the gold medal at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles and was also part of the gold medal team at the 1983 Pan American Games in Caracas, Venezuela.

Miller was selected to represent the US at the inaugural Goodwill games, held in Moscow in July 1986. North Carolina State's Kay Yow served as head coach. The team opened up with a 72–53 victory over Yugoslavia, led by 19 points from Miller, and followed that with a 21-point win over Brazil 91–70. The third game was against Czechoslovakia and would be much closer. Miller was the scoring leader in this game, scoring 26 points to help the US to a 78–70 victory. The USA faced Bulgaria in the semi-final match up, and again won, this time 67–58. This set up the final against the Soviet Union, led by 7-foot-2 Uljana Semjonova, considered the most dominant player in the world. The Soviet team had a 152–2 record in major international competition over the prior three decades, including an 84–82 win over the US in the 1983 World Championships. The Soviets held the early edge, leading 21–19 at one time, before the USA went on a scoring run to take a large lead they would never relinquish. The final score was 83–60 in favor of the US, earning the gold medal for the USA squad. For the entire event, Miller averaged 20.6 points to lead the team in scoring.[14]

Miller continued to represent the US with National team at the 1986 World Championships, held in Moscow, a month after the Goodwill games in Moscow. The USA team was even more dominant this time. The early games were won easily, and the semifinal against Canada, while the closest game for the USA so far, ended up an 82–59 victory. At the same time, the Soviet team was winning easily as well, and the final game pitted two teams each with 6–0 records. The Soviet team, having lost only once at home, wanted to show that the Goodwill games setback was a fluke. The USA team started by scoring the first eight points, and raced to a 45–23 lead, although the Soviets fought back and reduced the halftime margin to 13. The USA went on a 15–1 run in the second half to put the game away, and ended up winning the gold medal with a score of 108–88. Miller led all scorers in the game with 24 points.[15]

Post-college career

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After graduating from USC in 1986, she was drafted by several professional basketball leagues, including the United States Basketball League, a men's league. In the late 1980s, however, Miller suffered knee injuries that prevented her from continuing her playing career. From 1986 to 1991, she was an assistant coach at USC and a television sportscaster.

Miller was named head coach at USC and coached two seasons (1993–95). Her teams had a combined 42–14 record and went to the NCAA tournament both seasons, making a Regional Final once. She then coached for four seasons (1997–2000) with the Phoenix Mercury of the WNBA, where she also served as general manager.[16] "Run, run, run, run, run," Miller said about her kind of team. "Play some outstanding defense. I want this team to be physical, I want them to know the game." In 1998, Miller coached the Mercury to a 16–12 record and the WNBA Finals, where they lost to the Houston Comets.[17] She resigned after the 2000 season, citing fatigue.

On April 30, 2014, she was named women's basketball coach at Langston University by athletic director Mike Garrett.

On May 26, 2016, she was named women's basketball coach at California State Los Angeles by athletic director Mike Garrett.

Coaching record

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USC

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Year G W L W-L% Conference Notes
1993-94 30 26 4 .867 16–2 (1st) NCAA Elite Eight
1994–95 28 18 10 .643 10–8 (5th) NCAA 1st Round
Overall 58 44 14 .759 26–10

Phoenix Mercury

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Legend
Regular season G Games coached W Games won L Games lost W–L % Win–loss %
Playoffs PG Playoff games PW Playoff wins PL Playoff losses PW–L % Playoff win–loss %
Team Year G W L W–L% Finish PG PW PL PW–L% Result
PHX 1997 28 16 12 .571 1st in West 1 0 1 .000 Lost in WNBA Semifinals
PHX 1998 30 19 11 .633 2nd in West 6 3 3 .5000 Lost WNBA Finals
PHX 1999 32 15 17 .469 4th in West - - - Missed WNBA Playoffs
PHX 2000 32 20 12 .625 4th in West 2 0 2 .000 Lost in 1st Round
Career 122 70 52 .574 9 3 6 .333

Broadcast career

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Cheryl Miller served as a sideline reporter for the NBA on TNT's Thursday night doubleheader coverage for TNT Sports. She also made appearances on NBA TV during the 2008-09 NBA season as a reporter and analyst. Miller joined Turner Sports in September 1995 as an analyst and reporter for the NBA on TBS and TNT. She made occasional appearances as a studio analyst for NBA games. In November 1996, became the first female analyst to call a nationally televised NBA game.[18] She also served as the sideline reporter in 2K Sports' NBA 2K Series. She left the company after her contract expired in 2013.

Miller worked as a basketball commentator at the 1994 Goodwill Games. Miller worked as a basketball reporter and called weightlifting for the 2001 Goodwill Games. Miller served as women's basketball analyst and men's basketball reporter for NBC's coverage of the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.

Before joining Turner Sports, Miller also worked for ABC Sports/ESPN from 1987 to 1993, where she served as a reporter for ABC's Wide World of Sports and a commentator for the network's college basketball telecasts. She served as a field reporter for the 1987 Little League World Series and served as a correspondent for the 1988 Calgary Olympics.

Awards and honors

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Women's Basketball Coaches Career". NCAA. Retrieved September 22, 2015.
  2. ^ "WBHOF Inductees". WBHOF. Archived from the original on December 6, 2017. Retrieved August 1, 2009.
  3. ^ "FIBA announces 2010 Hall of Fame Class". FIBA. Archived from the original on October 19, 2010. Retrieved August 20, 2010.
  4. ^ a b Woolum 1998, p. 190
  5. ^ a b Skaine 2001, p. 132
  6. ^ 2009 National High School Sports Record Book. National Federation of State High School Associations. 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 17, 2013. Retrieved March 16, 2010.
  7. ^ "The Wade Trophy". Women's Basketball Coaches Association. Retrieved June 30, 2014.
  8. ^ "Top 25 players of past 25 years". ESPN. January 9, 2006.
  9. ^ "usctrojans.com – University of Southern California Official Athletic Site – University of Southern California". Archived from the original on December 9, 2008. Retrieved May 18, 2008.
  10. ^ Hoffer, Richard. “It’s Not Miller Time.” 1994. Sports Illustrated, April 11, 17.
  11. ^ "USC Media Guide" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on September 12, 2017. Retrieved September 12, 2017.
  12. ^ "Ninth World Championship For Women – 1983". USA Basketball. June 10, 2010. Archived from the original on September 5, 2015. Retrieved October 19, 2015.
  13. ^ "1984 WOMEN'S R. WILLIAM JONES CUP". USA Basketball. Archived from the original on August 8, 2014. Retrieved August 3, 2014.
  14. ^ "First Women's Goodwill Games – 1986". USA Basketball. June 10, 2010. Archived from the original on September 11, 2015. Retrieved October 20, 2015.
  15. ^ "Tenth World Championship For Women – 1986". USA Basketball. August 14, 2013. Archived from the original on September 5, 2015. Retrieved October 19, 2015.
  16. ^ Skaine 2001, p. 134
  17. ^ Woolum 1998, p. 191
  18. ^ Skaine 2001, p. 133
  19. ^ a b "PAST HONDA SPORTS AWARD WINNERS FOR BASKETBALL". THE Collegiate Women Sports Awards Program. Retrieved May 8, 2014.
  20. ^ a b c "Cheryl Miller: African American basketball legend". www.myblackhistory.net. Retrieved March 30, 2020.
  21. ^ "Past Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year Winners (Honda Cup)". THE Collegiate Women Sports Awards Program. Retrieved May 8, 2014.
  22. ^ "International Women's Sports Hall of Fame". Women's Sports Foundation. November 4, 2019. Retrieved April 7, 2020.
  23. ^ "17th Annual California Hall of Fame".
Sources
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