Miller, Cheryl

Cheryl Miller, (born January 3, 1964, Riverside, California, U.S.), American basketball player and coach who was one of the greatest players in the history of women’s basketball. Miller is credited with both popularizing the women’s game and elevating it to a higher level.

While growing up in southern California, Miller displayed extraordinary talent on the basketball court. She stayed close to her family by choosing to attend college at the University of Southern California (USC), where she quickly became a star. In 1983, her first season at USC, Miller burst onto the national scene by leading the Trojans to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) women’s basketball championship. Although just a freshman, she was selected as the Most Outstanding Player (MOP) of the NCAA tournament because of her ability to dominate games with her all-around athleticism. In addition to having a shooting touch that made her dangerous from anywhere on the court, Miller was an intimidating defender and a dominating rebounder. In 1984 she led USC to another national title, and she was named MOP of the NCAA tournament for the second consecutive year.

Miller followed up her two NCAA championship seasons by leading the U.S. women’s team to its first Olympic gold medal in the 1984 Summer Games in Los Angeles. After completing her career at USC, Miller returned to the international arena. In 1986 she led American teams to titles at the women’s World Basketball Championship in Moscow and at the Goodwill Games, in which the United States defeated the Soviet Union to secure the gold medal.

When she left USC, Miller was widely considered the best women’s basketball player in the school’s history. She earned All-America honours in each of her four seasons and was a three-time NCAA player of the year selection (1984–86). In her 128-game career Miller established herself among the all-time NCAA leaders with 3,018 points (23.6 per game) and 1,534 rebounds (12.0 per game). At the close of her collegiate career, she was second in NCAA tournament career scoring with 333 points (20.8 per game) and first in career rebounding with 170 (10.6 per game). She was the first USC basketball player—male or female—to have her jersey number retired by the university.

Miller returned to her alma mater in 1993 as head coach of USC’s women’s basketball team. During her two years at the helm, the Trojans compiled a 44–14 record and won the 1994 Pacific-10 conference title. In 1995 she left coaching to become a commentator, analyst, and reporter for National Basketball Association (NBA) coverage on a number of television networks. In 1996 Miller became the first female analyst to broadcast a nationally televised men’s professional basketball game.

In 1997, upon the establishment of a new women’s professional basketball league, the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA), Miller returned to the court as head coach and general manager of the Phoenix Mercury. She resigned from that position in 2000 and resumed her broadcasting career. In 2014, however, she became coach of Langston University in Oklahoma. Two years later she moved to California State University, Los Angeles, where she remained until 2019.

Miller’s younger brother Reggie was an all-star shooting guard for the NBA’s Indiana Pacers from 1987 to 2005. She was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1995.