American basketball coach (1919?2001)
Ralph Miller
Miller from 1968
Hawkeye
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Born
| (
1919-03-09
)
March 9, 1919
Chanute, Kansas
, U.S.
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Died
| May 15, 2001
(2001-05-15)
(aged 82)
Black Butte Ranch, Oregon
, U.S.
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1937?1941
| Kansas
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1951?1964
| Wichita
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1964?1970
| Iowa
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1970?1989
| Oregon State
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Overall
| 657?382
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MVC
regular season (1964)
2
Big Ten
regular season (1968, 1970)
4
Pac-10
regular season (1980?1982, 1984)
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2×
AP Coach of the Year
(1981, 1982)
Henry Iba Award
(1981)
NABC Coach of the Year
(1981)
UPI Coach of the Year
(1981)
2×
Pac-10 Coach of the Year
(1981, 1989)
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|
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Allegiance
|
United States
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Service/
branch
| U.S. Army Air Forces
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Rank
|
First lieutenant
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Battles/wars
| World War II
(stateside)
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Basketball Hall of Fame
Inducted in 1988
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College Basketball Hall of Fame
Inducted in 2006
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Position
| End
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Class
| 1941
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College
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High school
| Chanute
(KS)
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Ralph H. Miller
(March 9, 1919 ? May 15, 2001) was an American
college basketball
coach, a head coach for 38 years at three universities:
Wichita
(now known as Wichita State),
Iowa
, and
Oregon State
.
[1]
With an overall record of 657?382 (.632), his teams had losing records only three times. Prior to his final season, he was enshrined in the
Basketball Hall of Fame
on
May 3, 1988.
[2]
Miller played college football and basketball at the
University of Kansas
. His performance on the
football team
led to him being selected in the
1942 NFL draft
, but he chose to serve in the military instead of playing in the NFL.
Early life
[
edit
]
Born and raised in
Chanute, Kansas
, Miller was a standout athlete in
high school
and
college
. At
Chanute High School
, he won
letters
in
football
,
track
,
basketball
,
golf
and
tennis
. Miller was an all-state basketball player for three years and set the state record in the
low hurdles
in 1937. He was all-state three consecutive years in football and basketball.
College career
[
edit
]
In college at the
University of Kansas
in
Lawrence
, Miller won three letters as a
football
quarterback
and three in
basketball
. By 1940, he was beating the
1932 gold medalist in the decathlon
Jim Bausch
in seven of ten events.
As an undergraduate, he was coached by
Phog Allen
.
[3]
In one of Miller's classes, a guest lecturer was
Dr. James Naismith
, the inventor of basketball. Miller was also a member of
Phi Kappa Psi Fraternity
at KU.
[4]
He earned a
bachelor's degree
in
physical education
in 1942. He also drafted in the 18th round (167th overall selection) of the
1942 NFL Draft
by the
Brooklyn Dodgers
, but declined playing in the NFL and instead took a personnel department job with the Aero Parts Manufacturing Company. When the company formed the
Wichita Aero Commandos
football team in 1942, Miller became the starting quarterback.
[5]
Coaching career
[
edit
]
Early jobs
[
edit
]
Miller's first coaching position was at Mount Oread High School in Lawrence, and the team consisted primarily of professors' sons. The season did not go well and left a sour taste in his mouth towards coaching basketball.
Military career interruption
[
edit
]
Miller later joined the
Army Air Forces
for three years, leaving as a
first lieutenant
. Miller didn't have to go overseas during
World War II
because of knee problems that began at KU. He enlisted in the Air Force and held desk jobs in
Florida
,
Texas
, and
California
. After the war, he became an assistant director of recreation and oversaw a swimming pool and playground in
Redlands
,
California
. Soon, he joined a friend in the business of hauling fruit.
Return to coaching
[
edit
]
In 1949, eight years after his ill-fated first attempt at coaching, a friend from
Wichita
named Fritz Snodgrass sent Miller a telegram asking if he might be interested in returning to guide his son's team at
East High School
. At East, Miller became a student of the game. He was fascinated by the
full-court press
zone defense
that had been developed at Kansas in 1930, but he wondered why it was only used after a basket was made. Nobody could give Miller a solid answer, and so he began tinkering with ways to press after missed shots, too. His idea was to assign each player a man to guard, and when an errant shot went up, they were immediately to pick up their man. His ideas were very successful. In three years at East High, Miller's teams finished second, third and first in the state using his system of execution and pressure basketball.
Wichita
[
edit
]
In 1951, the president of Municipal University of Wichita (now
Wichita State University
) offered him a job. Miller spent 13 years at
Wichita
, winning 220 games, earning three
NIT
berths and a spot in the
NCAA tournament
in
1964
.
Iowa
[
edit
]
In the spring of 1964, Miller left for the
Iowa
of the
Big Ten Conference
, where he built one of the greatest offensive juggernauts in NCAA history. In his
first season
he coached
Jimmy Rodgers
who would go on to be a notable coach in his own right.
[6]
The
Hawkeyes
averaged more than 100 points a game in Big Ten play in
1970
and went undefeated (14?0) in the
Big Ten
with a
19?4
regular season record. Entering the
NCAA tournament
, Iowa was on a sixteen-game winning streak and played their first game in the
Sweet Sixteen
, but were upset by independent
Jacksonville
,
[7]
the eventual national runner-up. After a consolation win over
Notre Dame
, the Hawkeyes finished at
20?5
overall.
Oregon State
[
edit
]
A month later in April 1970, Miller was offered the job at
Oregon State
.
[8]
Miller had only two losing seasons in 19 years at OSU, and retired as the second winningest
head coach in Oregon State history
with 359 victories, behind
Slats Gill
.
Retirement
[
edit
]
Miller retired at age 70 in 1989,
[9]
his final regular season win was a comfortable one, over
rival
Oregon
at a sold-out
Gill Coliseum
on Sunday,
March 5.
[10]
The Beavers lost to
top-ranked
Arizona
in the semifinals of the
Pac-10 tourney
,
[11]
then fell in the first round of the
NCAA tournament
to
Evansville
at
Tucson
.
[12]
[13]
Legacy
[
edit
]
Miller's career record was 657?382 (.632);
[14]
the 657 victories were the most by an active coach and ranked him seventh among major college coaches, trailing only
Adolph Rupp
(876),
Hank Iba
(767),
Ed Diddle
(759),
Phog Allen
(746),
Ray Meyer
(724), and
John Wooden
(664). Miller's teams actually won 674 games, but the total was reduced by forfeits because one of his players,
Lonnie Shelton
, had signed with an
agent
while still in college in 1976.
The floor of Gill Coliseum is named
Ralph Miller Court
, and the street in front of the venue was renamed
Ralph Miller Drive
shortly upon his retirement.
Personal life
[
edit
]
In the fall of 1937 at the University of Kansas, Miller took a
physiology
class where the students were seated alphabetically. Next to him was an attractive student from
Topeka
named Emily Jean Milam; five years later they were married. The couple had two sons, Ralph Jr. and Paul, and two daughters, Susan Langer and
Shannon Jakosky.
[15]
The gymnasium at Chanute High School is named after Miller, and is home to the
Ralph Miller Classic
, an eight-team tournament.
Miller had an unequaled addiction to
cigarettes
, and
chain-smoked
More
brand cigarettes during practices, on team buses, and in
his office.
[16]
[17]
A dozen years after his retirement, Miller died in his sleep at age 82 at his home at
Black Butte Ranch
, northwest
of
Bend
.
[1]
[17]
He had suffered from
congestive heart failure
and complications
from
emphysema
.
[1]
His wife Jean died at age 93 in 2014
in Bend.
[15]
Head coaching record
[
edit
]
* 15 wins were forfeited and official record for that season is 3?24
** 1 NCAA Tournament loss was vacated
*** 2 NCAA Tournament wins and 1 loss were vacated
**** Official record with vacated and forfeited wins and losses
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
c
Conrad, John (May 17, 2001).
"Legendary coach dies"
.
Eugene Register-Guard
. (Oregon). p. 1D.
- ^
"OSU's Miller enshrined in Hall of Fame"
.
Eugene Register-Guard
. (Oregon). wire services. May 4, 1988. p. 1C.
- ^
"Now in 35th year, Miller still stickler for basics"
.
Lawrence Journal-World
. (Kansas). Associated Press. November 17, 1985. p. 6B.
- ^
Phi Kappa Psi (1991). Grand Catalogue of the Phi Kappa Psi Fraternity (13th ed.)
. Publishing Concepts, Inc. 1991. pp. 275, 493.
- ^
"Great K. U. Passer and All Around Star to Play Here"
.
The Wichita Eagle
. August 16, 1942
. Retrieved
February 8,
2022
– via
Newspapers.com
.
- ^
"1964-65 Iowa Hawkeyes Roster and Stats"
.
Sports Reference
. Retrieved
October 17,
2020
.
- ^
"Kentucky, Jacksonville win"
.
Milwaukee Sentinel
. UPI. March 13, 1970.
- ^
"New coach to shift 'image' into speed"
.
Eugene Register-Guard
. (Oregon). April 9, 1970. p. 1D.
- ^
Burge, Mike (March 6, 1989).
"Fans bid farewell to Miller"
.
Eugene Register-Guard
. (Oregon). p. 1A.
- ^
Clark, Bob (March 6, 1989).
"Ducks never had a chance"
.
Eugene Register-Guard
. (Oregon). p. 1A.
- ^
Schmitt, Mary (March 12, 1989).
"
'Cats do their No. 1 number"
.
Eugene Register-Guard
. (Oregon). p. 1E.
- ^
Schmitt, Mary (March 17, 1989).
"OSU draws Aces today for openers"
.
Eugene Register-Guard
. (Oregon). p. 1E.
- ^
Schmitt, Mary (March 18, 1989).
"Beavers take a seat on NCAA sidelines"
.
Eugene Register-Guard
. (Oregon). p. 1D.
- ^
Litsky, Frank
(May 19, 2001).
"Ralph Miller, 82, a Hall of Fame Coach"
.
The New York Times
. Retrieved
December 3,
2010
.
- ^
a
b
"Jean Miller, widow of former Oregon State Beavers coach Ralph Miller, dies at 93"
.
Oregon Live
. (OSU Athletics). August 13, 2014
. Retrieved
March 1,
2018
.
- ^
Welsch, Jeff; Moore, Sherry (2000).
A Visit With Ralph Miller. From his home at Black Butte Ranch, Hall of Famer Miller recalls the glory days of OSU basketball
Archived
July 20, 2011, at the
Wayback Machine
.
A Visit With Ralph Miller -- From his home at Black Butte Ranch, Hall of Famer Miller recalls the glory days of OSU basketball'.
- ^
a
b
Withers, Bud (May 17, 2001).
"College basketball loses a true legend"
.
Spokesman-Review
. (Spokane, Washington). (Seattle Times). p. C3.
External links
[
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]
Links to related articles
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# denotes interim head coach.
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*
Selection later vacated
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