Section B·Page 4
The University Daily Kansan
Thursday, November 4. 1999
kansas millennium athlete No.7
Miller revolutionized game with coaching style
Legendary coach Ralph Miller pauses during a game at Oregon State to question a call from the bench. During his 38 seasons of coaching college basketball Miller, won 657 games and retired in 1989 as the winningest Division I coach. Photo courtesy of Mike Shields
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from the sport he almost consid ered coaching instead of basket ball.
"I really did enjoy football, but since that was the sport I tore my knee in, I decided to concentrate on basketball instead," Miller said.
Although Miller excelled at football, his true love was basketball. For the rest of his life Miller would be around basketball — either coaching, playing or watching.
At Kansas, Miller played basketball with the likes of future Jayhawk coach Dick Harp and was coached by one of Kansas' earliest and most successful coaches, Phog Allen. Allen, who learned from the inventor of the game, James Naismith, had an extraordinary influence on Miller as both an athlete and a coach.
But Miller's link to basketball's roots did not stop at being coached by Allen. Miller actually knew Naismith and was taught by him at the University.
"Id have the privilege to meet Dr. Naismith, and he occasionally guest lectured in my classes," Miller said. "But I think the thing I most remember about him was that he always thought that the game was just to be played — not coached or perfected. And, unfortunately, him being the only KU coach with a losing record showed that."
In 1940, Miller was a starter on the Kansas team that went 19-6 and was the first Jayhawk team to make it to the NCAA Final Four. Twice in his three years on the basketball team, Miller was voted to the all-conference team. But for Miller, making the Final Four was a dream come true.
"It (the Final Four) wasn't as big as it is today." Miller said. "But we proud of our accomplishment, as we were able to go to the finals and, of course, at that time I was extremely proud to be a Javahwer."
In 1942 Miller graduated from Kansas and ended his playing days. However, what he was about
to embark upon was a dream of another kind - he would go on to coach athletes in the game he loved to play.
Later that same year Miller landed his first head coaching job - a temporary position at Mount Oread High School in Lawrence.
That year, Miller did not experience much success as the team went the entire season without a win.
"We were an awful team," Miller said. "I'm not even sure we won a game. It certainly didn't turn my head toward coaching but not
away from it either."
Aner a three-year stint in the Air Force, Miller decided to get back into coaching because he said basketball was in his blood.
His next job came at Wichita East High School, where he spent three successful seasons from 1949 to 1951. Basketball was quite a different game when Miller played it, and it continued to be so for the early part of his coaching career. The pace was slower, the shots were different, the strategy was uncertain and the scores were a lot lower. But as Miller would show
"I did have the privilege to meet Dr. Naismith, and he occasionally guest lectured in my classes. But I think the thing I most remember about him was that he always thought that the game was just to be played — not coached or perfected. And, unfortunately, him being the only KU coach with a losing record showed that."
Ralph Miller Former Kansas basketball and football player
later in his celebrated coaching career, he was a man of adjustments and knew how to coach to win.
In fact, in his first year at Wichita East, Miller's team was trailing a midseason game 4-0 at halftime. After a stern but motivational tongue-lashing at the break, Miller's troops still trailed 7-2 after three periods. In the fourth they took command, made an incredible comeback and won, 13-11. After the game, Miller received a telegram from Allen that said, "Congratulations on the new-fangled control game."
Two years later in 1951, his final year as a high school coach. Miller demonstrated the knowledge he had learned from Allen and Naismith as he led the Blue Aces to a 26-3 record and a state championship.
Without even leaving the city, Miller stepped up to the next level — a job as basketball coach at Wichita State University. In 13 seasons with the Shockers, Miller won more than 200 games and began moving his way up the coaching ladder of prestige.
Next it was on to Iowa, a major Division-I school. Miller spent six seasons at Iowa, where he added another 95 wins to his record before moving on to Oregon State. It was at Iowa that Miller won his biggest game as a coach — a nine-point victory against the mighty UCLA Bruins coached by the legendary John Wooden.
"I was 3-0 vs. coach Wooden before I came to Oregon State," Miller said with a laugh. "But he
truly was a great coach, and I highly admired him."
Wooden's Bruins went on to win the NCAA title that year, but the loss to Iowa and Miller snapped a streak of 37 straight wins.
The meeting was the first between the two legendary coaches. Steve Seidler, a former assistant to Miller at Oregon State and UCLA team member coached by Wooden, said the two coaches did not differ greatly in their coaching styles.
"I spent two years at UCLA, and coach Wooden influenced me quite a bit, but Ralph and Coach Wooden aren't that different," Seilder said. "The only difference was that Coach Wooden got better players."
Soidler joined Miller at Oregon State as an assistant in 1980. By that time, Miller already had been there for nine seasons and had shaped Oregon State into one of the premier programs in college basketball.
In fact, during Seidler's first season, the Beavers were ranked first in the nation, and when Miller couldn't make it to a team practice, he let his assistant take over. Seidler said he always was impressed by the gesture because it showed Miller was not afraid of giving his assistants some control.
"The thing that was great about Ralph was that he had complete trust in his assistants," Seidler said. "But once the game was on, it was Ralph's show."
In all, Miller spent 19 seasons at Oregon State, helping to develop the talent of such NBA greats as A.C. Green, Steve Johnson and
Miller, deep in thought, stares at the rafters of Gill Coliseum at Oregon State, where he coached 19 seasons and won 359 games. After Miller retired from coaching, Oregon State honored him by naming the court at Gill Coliseum "Ralph Miller Court." Photo courtesy of Mike Shields
Twice, both in 1911 and 1982, Miller was voted National Coach of the Year. His innovative style of full-court pressure basketball revolutionized the game.
Gary Payton, while winning six Pac-10 titles and making nine NCAA appearances.
Today, Miller lives on a ranch in Oregon with his wife. He enjoys playing bridge and golf — although he said his golf game has gotten so bad he doesn't even have fun anymore — and he continues to watch basketball frequently.
Seidler, who now coaches at Central High School in Phoenix, wrote a book honoring Ralph. The book, A System of Game Execution, not only pays tribute to his accomplishments, but it also teaches the drills and techniques that created his tenacious style.
"I think Ralph was born to coach," his wife said. "At Kansas, that wasn't his great desire, but the coaching happened because of the circumstances and I think he was certainly supposed to be around athletics in some way for his entire life."
Edited by Kelly Clasen
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