 Miller from 1968Hawkeye | |
| Biographical details | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1919-03-09)March 9, 1919 Chanute, Kansas, U.S. |
| Died | May 15, 2001(2001-05-15) (aged 82) Black Butte Ranch, Oregon, U.S. |
| Playing career | |
| 1937–1941 | Kansas |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 1951–1964 | Wichita |
| 1964–1970 | Iowa |
| 1970–1989 | Oregon State |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 657–382 |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Championships | |
| MVC regular season (1964) 2Big Ten regular season (1968, 1970) 4Pac-10 regular season (1980–1982, 1984) | |
| Awards | |
| 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) | |
| Records | |
| Military career | |
| Allegiance |  United States |
| Branch |  U.S. Army Air Forces |
| Rank |  First lieutenant |
| Battles / wars | World War II (stateside) |
| Basketball Hall of Fame Inducted in 1988 | |
| College Basketball Hall of Fame Inducted in 2006 | |
| Football career | |
| Profile | |
| Position | End |
| Class | 1941 |
| Career information | |
| High school | Chanute (KS) |
| College |
|
| Awards and highlights | |
Ralph H. Miller (March 9, 1919 – May 15, 2001) was an Americancollege basketball coach, a head coach for 38 years at three universities:Wichita (now known as Wichita State),Iowa, andOregon 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 theBasketball Hall of Fame onMay 3, 1988.[2] Miller played college football and basketball at theUniversity of Kansas. His performance on thefootball team led to him being selected in the1942 NFL draft, but he chose to serve in the military instead of playing in the NFL.
Born and raised inChanute, Kansas, Miller was a standout athlete inhigh school andcollege. AtChanute High School, he wonletters infootball,track,basketball,golf andtennis. Miller was an all-state basketball player for three years and set the state record in thelow hurdles in 1937. He was all-state three consecutive years in football and basketball.
In college at theUniversity of Kansas inLawrence, Miller won three letters as afootballquarterback and three inbasketball. By 1940, he was beating the1932 gold medalist in the decathlonJim Bausch in seven of ten events.
As an undergraduate, he was coached byPhog Allen.[3] In one of Miller's classes, a guest lecturer wasDr. James Naismith, the inventor of basketball. Miller was also a member ofPhi Kappa Psi fraternityat KU.[4]
He earned abachelor's degree inphysical education in 1942. He also drafted in the 18th round (167th overall selection) of the1942 NFL draft by theBrooklyn Dodgers, but declined playing in the NFL and instead took a personnel department job with the Aero Parts Manufacturing Company. When the company formed theWichita Aero Commandos football team in 1942, Miller became the starting quarterback.[5]
The "flashy passer" Miller saw his 1942 season come to an abrupt end at the hands of theChicago Cardinals of the NFL, who played an exhibition game against the Aero Commandos in Wichita'sLawrence Stadium on November 15, during what would otherwise have been a bye week.[6] Midway through the first half Miller suffered an unspecified injury that forced his removal and ended his year.[6]
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.
Miller later joined theArmy Air Forces for three years, leaving as afirst lieutenant. Miller didn't have to go overseas duringWorld War II because of knee problems that began at KU. He enlisted in the Air Force and held desk jobs inFlorida,Texas, andCalifornia. After the war, he became an assistant director of recreation and oversaw a swimming pool and playground inRedlands,California. Soon, he joined a friend in the business of hauling fruit.
In 1949, eight years after his ill-fated first attempt at coaching, a friend fromWichita named Fritz Snodgrass sent Miller a telegram asking if he might be interested in returning to guide his son's team atEast High School. At East, Miller became a student of the game. He was fascinated by thefull-court presszone 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.
In 1951, the president of Municipal University of Wichita (nowWichita State University) offered him a job. Miller spent 13 years atWichita, winning 220 games, earning threeNIT berths and a spot in theNCAA tournament in1964.
In the spring of 1964, Miller left for theIowa of theBig Ten Conference, where he built one of the greatest offensive juggernauts in NCAA history. In hisfirst season he coachedJimmy Rodgers who would go on to be a notable coach in his own right.[7] TheHawkeyes averaged more than 100 points a game in Big Ten play in1970 and went undefeated (14–0) in theBig Ten with a19–4 regular season record. Entering theNCAA tournament, Iowa was on a sixteen-game winning streak and played their first game in theSweet Sixteen, but were upset by independentJacksonville,[8] the eventual national runner-up. After a consolation win overNotre Dame, the Hawkeyes finished at20–5 overall.
A month later in April 1970, Miller was offered the job atOregon State.[9] Miller had only two losing seasons in 19 years at OSU, and retired as the second winningesthead coach in Oregon State history with 359 victories, behindSlats Gill.
Miller retired at age 70 in 1989,[10] his final regular season win was a comfortable one, overrivalOregon at a sold-outGill Coliseum on Sunday,March 5.[11] The Beavers lost totop-rankedArizona in the semifinals of thePac-10 tourney,[12] then fell in the first round of theNCAA tournament toEvansvilleatTucson.[13][14]
Miller's career record was 657–382 (.632);[15] the 657 victories were the most by an active coach and ranked him seventh among major college coaches, trailing onlyAdolph Rupp (876),Hank Iba (767),Ed Diddle (759),Phog Allen (746),Ray Meyer (724), andJohn 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 anagent while still in college in 1976.
The floor of Gill Coliseum is namedRalph Miller Court, and the street in front of the venue was renamedRalph Miller Drive shortly upon his retirement.
In the fall of 1937 at the University of Kansas, Miller took aphysiology class where the students were seated alphabetically. Next to him was an attractive student fromTopeka named Emily Jean Milam; five years later they were married. The couple had two sons, Ralph Jr. and Paul, and two daughters, Susan Langer andShannon Jakosky.[16]
The gymnasium at Chanute High School is named after Miller, and is home to theRalph Miller Classic, an eight-team tournament.
Miller had an unequaled addiction tocigarettes, andchain-smokedMore brand cigarettes during practices, on team buses, and inhis office.[17][18]
A dozen years after his retirement, Miller died in his sleep at age 82 at his home atBlack Butte Ranch, northwestofBend.[1][18] He had suffered fromcongestive heart failure and complicationsfromemphysema.[1] His wife Jean died at age 93 in 2014in Bend.[16]
| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wichita Shockers(Missouri Valley Conference)(1951–1964) | |||||||||
| 1951–52 | Wichita | 11–19 | 2–8 | 6th | |||||
| 1952–53 | Wichita | 16–11 | 3–7 | 6th | |||||
| 1953–54 | Wichita | 27–4 | 8–2 | 2nd | NIT first round | ||||
| 1954–55 | Wichita | 17–9 | 4–6 | 4th | |||||
| 1955–56 | Wichita | 14–12 | 7–5 | 4th | |||||
| 1956–57 | Wichita | 15–11 | 8–6 | 4th | |||||
| 1957–58 | Wichita | 14–12 | 6–8 | 4th | |||||
| 1958–59 | Wichita | 14–12 | 7–7 | 4th | |||||
| 1959–60 | Wichita | 14–12 | 6–8 | 4th | |||||
| 1960–61 | Wichita | 18–8 | 6–6 | 4th | |||||
| 1961–62 | Wichita | 18–9 | 7–5 | 3rd | NIT first round | ||||
| 1962–63 | Wichita | 19–8 | 7–5 | 2nd | NIT first round | ||||
| 1963–64 | Wichita | 23–5 | 10–2 | 1st | NCAA University Division Elite Eight | ||||
| Wichita: | 220–133 | 81–75 | |||||||
| Iowa Hawkeyes(Big Ten Conference)(1964–1970) | |||||||||
| 1964–65 | Iowa | 14–10 | 8–6 | 5th | |||||
| 1965–66 | Iowa | 17–7 | 8–6 | 3rd | |||||
| 1966–67 | Iowa | 16–8 | 9–5 | 3rd | |||||
| 1967–68 | Iowa | 16–9 | 10–4 | T-1st | |||||
| 1968–69 | Iowa | 12–12 | 5–9 | 8th | |||||
| 1969–70 | Iowa | 20–5 | 14–0 | 1st | NCAA University Division Sweet 16 | ||||
| Iowa: | 95–51 | 54–30 | |||||||
| Oregon State Beavers(Pacific-8/Pacific-10 Conference)(1970–1989) | |||||||||
| 1970–71 | Oregon State | 12–14 | 4–10 | 6th | |||||
| 1971–72 | Oregon State | 18–10 | 9–5 | 3rd | |||||
| 1972–73 | Oregon State | 15–11 | 6–8 | 5th | |||||
| 1973–74 | Oregon State | 13–13 | 6–8 | 5th | |||||
| 1974–75 | Oregon State | 19–12 | 10–4 | 2nd | NCAA Division I second round | ||||
| 1975–76 | Oregon State | 18–9* | 10–4 | 2nd | |||||
| 1976–77 | Oregon State | 16–13 | 8–6 | 3rd | |||||
| 1977–78 | Oregon State | 16–11 | 9–5 | 2nd | |||||
| 1978–79 | Oregon State | 18–10 | 11–7 | 3rd | NIT first round | ||||
| 1979–80 | Oregon State | 26–4** | 16–2 | 1st | NCAA Division I second round | ||||
| 1980–81 | Oregon State | 26–2** | 17–1 | 1st | NCAA Division I second round | ||||
| 1981–82 | Oregon State | 25–5*** | 16–2 | 1st | NCAA Division I Elite Eight | ||||
| 1982–83 | Oregon State | 20–11 | 12–6 | 3rd | NIT quarterfinal | ||||
| 1983–84 | Oregon State | 22–7 | 15–3 | 1st | NCAA Division I first round | ||||
| 1984–85 | Oregon State | 22–9 | 12–6 | 2nd | NCAA Division I first round | ||||
| 1985–86 | Oregon State | 12–15 | 8–10 | 5th | |||||
| 1986–87 | Oregon State | 19–11 | 10–8 | 3rd | NIT second round | ||||
| 1987–88 | Oregon State | 20–11 | 12–6 | 2nd | NCAA Division I first round | ||||
| 1988–89 | Oregon State | 22–8 | 13–5 | 3rd | NCAA Division I first round | ||||
| Oregon State: | 342–198**** | 204–114 | |||||||
| Total: | 657–382**** | ||||||||
National champion Postseason invitational champion | |||||||||
* 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
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
