Born to win: Addy Miller looks to continue impressive basketball coaching career at Cedarville By Julia Swain Before Addy Miller was an assistant coach for one of the top Division II teams in the country, before she went 90-30 in four seasons on the coaching staff at Pittsburg State, before she was named the Missouri Class 2 player of the year, and before she was the state's all-time leader in 3-pointers made (319), Miller was just a girl who loved basketball. It just so happened that the game loved her back. "I grew up playing, my parents coached me, and my sister played and my grandpa was a college coach," Miller said. "So I was around it whether I wanted to be or not." Miller took her talents to the high school level, where her natural talent and affinity for the sport led her to not only a state championship and the school record for career points (2,392), but also to multiple Division II scholarship offers. "We won state when I was a junior, so I kept on that path," Miller said. "I luckily had scholarships to play in college and that was always my goal. I didn't want my parents to have to pay for college, so that was a big thing for me, going somewhere that I could get a free education." Miller began her collegiate career at Wayne State, finishing her sophomore year with a 28-5 record and a trip to the second round of the NCAA Division II tournament. She then transferred to Drury, going 52-9 there, including two Grand Lake Valley Conference West division crowns, the 2015 GLVC title, and two more trips to the NCAA tournament. Following graduation, Miller moved on to assistant coaching at Pittsburg State University, where she finished with a 90-30 record, including two trips to the NCAA Tournament. Miller then headed back to Drury, this time as an assistant coach, where she finished 87-9. Following her final season at Drury, Miller looked into the possibility of coaching elsewhere, and with Cedarville's former head coach Jason Smith stepping down in March, the perfect opportunity arose. "We started a nationwide search in which we actively recruited people to come, and Coach Miller was one of those people that we identified early as someone we were interested in learning more about," said 4 CED.RS Photograph provided b Addy Miller gathers her players in a huddle during practice. This is Miller's first head coaching job ::ifter seven seasons as an assistant coach. Chns Cross, vice president of athletics. A large part of Miller's mIssIon as a coach is to not only win, but to build relationships with her players. "I think why I love basketball so much is the relationships," Miller said. "[Teammates] are your best friends. They're like your sisters. Now being a coach, I get to lead these girls and my staff and love on them and build relationships. Yes. I'm hard on them, yes, we're going to expect hard work and discipline. but 1f you love on them then they're going to have fun." Miller attributes her success to essentially anyone but herself, the coaches she's worked with, her family, and most importantly, God. This humility has served her well, and was one of the main reasons that Cross decided to hire her. At her introductory press conference. Cross commented. "Throughout the search process [Miller] has demonstrated an impressive balance of faith, humility, passion and confidence along with a desire to be a part of what God is doing at Cedarville. "Pointing our young ladies, our student athletes to a close walk and relationship with Jesus is a thing she's really embraced and is really doing a good job [with]," Cross said. "But we're in the business of athletics and so we want to win some games. Coach Miller has really brought an energy and a passion and an attention to detail, a work ethic, that we haven't seen in awhile." Miller's faith is a large part of her identity. and she points back every bit of her success to the Lord.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTM4ODY=