Ralph H. Miller (March 9, 1919 – May 15, 2001) was an American

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

coach, a head coach for 38 years at three universities: Wichita (now known as Wichita State),

Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...

, and Oregon State. With an overall record of , his teams had losing records only three times. Prior to his final season, he was enshrined in the

Basketball Hall of Fame The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame is an American history museum and hall of fame, located at 1000 Hall of Fame Avenue in Springfield, Massachusetts. It serves as basketball's most complete library, in addition to promoting and pres ...

on Miller played college football and basketball at the

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States. Two branch campuses are in the Kansas City metropolitan area on the Kansas side: the university's medical school and hospital ...

. His performance on the

football team A football team is a group of players selected to play together in the various team sports known as football. Such teams could be selected to play in a match against an opposing team, to represent a football club, group, state or nation, an All-st ...

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

Born and raised in

Chanute, Kansas Chanute () is a city in Neosho County, Kansas, Neosho County, Kansas, United States. Founded on January 1, 1873, it was named after railroad engineer and aviation pioneer Octave Chanute. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the po ...

, Miller was a standout athlete in

high school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., ...

and

college A college (Latin: ''collegium'') may be a tertiary educational institution (sometimes awarding degrees), part of a collegiate university, an institution offering vocational education, a further education institution, or a secondary sc ...

. At

Chanute High School Chanute High School is a Secondary education in the United States, public secondary school in Chanute, Kansas, United States, and operated by Chanute USD 413 school district. Campus The school's current building was completed in 2008. Curricul ...

, he won letters in

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

, track,

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various Golf club, clubs to hit a Golf ball, ball into a series of holes on a golf course, course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standa ...

and

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

. 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

In college at the

in Lawrence, Miller won three letters as a

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

and three in

. 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 Forrest Clare "Phog" Allen (November 18, 1885 – September 16, 1974) was an American basketball coach and physician. Known as the "Father of Basketball Coaching,"Dr. James Naismith, the inventor of basketball. Miller was also a member of Phi Kappa Psi fraternity He earned a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

physical education Physical education is an academic subject taught in schools worldwide, encompassing Primary education, primary, Secondary education, secondary, and sometimes tertiary education. It is often referred to as Phys. Ed. or PE, and in the United Stat ...

in 1942. He also drafted in the 18th round (167th overall selection) of the 1942 NFL draft by the

Brooklyn Dodgers The Brooklyn Dodgers were a Major League Baseball team founded in 1883 as the Brooklyn Grays. In 1884, it became a member of the American Association as the Brooklyn Atlantics before joining the National League in 1890. They remained in Brook ...

, 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. The "flashy passer" Miller saw his 1942 season come to an abrupt end at the hands of the

Chicago Cardinals The professional American football team now known as the Arizona Cardinals previously played in Chicago, Illinois, as the Chicago Cardinals from 1898 to 1959 before relocating to St. Louis, Missouri, for the 1960 through 1987 seasons. Roots ca ...

of the NFL, who played an exhibition game against the Aero Commandos in Wichita's Lawrence Stadium on November 15, during what would otherwise have been a bye week.Pete Lightner
"Chicago Cardinals Win Handily: Big League Club Clinches Game in First 10 Minutes,"
''Wichita Eagle,'' Nov. 16, 1942, p. 8. Midway through the first half Miller suffered an unspecified injury that forced his removal and ended his year.

Coaching career

Early jobs

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

Miller later joined the Army Air Forces for three years, leaving as a

first lieutenant First lieutenant is a commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces; in some forces, it is an appointment. The rank of lieutenant has different meanings in different military formations, but in most forces it is sub-divided into a se ...

. Miller didn't have to go overseas during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

because of knee problems that began at KU. He enlisted in the Air Force and held desk jobs in

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

, and

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. After the war, he became an assistant director of recreation and oversaw a swimming pool and playground in Redlands,

. Soon, he joined a friend in the business of hauling fruit.

Return to coaching

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

In 1951, the president of Municipal University of Wichita (now

Wichita State University Wichita State University (WSU) is a public research university in Wichita, Kansas, United States. It is governed by the Kansas Board of Regents. The university offers more than 60 undergraduate degree programs in more than 200 areas of study in ...

) 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 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 – In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patria ...

Iowa

In the spring of 1964, Miller left for the

of the

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference, among others) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Fa ...

, 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. The Hawkeyes averaged more than 100 points a game in Big Ten play in

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 1970 Tonghai earthquake, Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli ...

and went undefeated (14–0) in the

Big Ten The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference, among others) is a collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representatives in 1 ...

with a 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 the eventual national runner-up. After a consolation win over Notre Dame, the Hawkeyes finished at overall.

Oregon State

A month later in April 1970, Miller was offered the job at Oregon State. 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

Miller retired at age 70 in 1989, his final regular season win was a comfortable one, over

rival A rivalry is the state of two people or Social group, groups engaging in a lasting competitive relationship. Rivalry is the "against each other" spirit between two competing sides. The relationship itself may also be called "a rivalry", and each ...

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

at a sold-out

Gill Coliseum Gill Coliseum is a multi-purpose indoor arena in Corvallis, Oregon, located on the campus of Oregon State University. Opened in December 1949,Heartwell, James C. ''The History of Oregon State College Basketball, 1901/02–1952/53.'' Corvallis, OR: ...

on Sunday, The Beavers lost to top-ranked

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

in the semifinals of the Pac-10 tourney, then fell in the first round of the NCAA tournament to

Evansville Evansville is a city in Vanderburgh County, Indiana, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 118,414 at the 2020 census, it is Indiana's third-most populous city after Indianapolis and Fort Wayne, the most populous city in S ...

Legacy

Miller's career record was ; the 657 victories were the most by an active coach and ranked him seventh among major college coaches, trailing only

Adolph Rupp Adolph Frederick Rupp (September 2, 1901 – December 10, 1977) was an American college basketball coach. Nicknamed the "Baron of the Bluegrass", he coached the University of Kentucky Wildcats to four NCAA Division I men's basketball tournam ...

(876), Hank Iba (767), Ed Diddle (759),

Phog Allen Forrest Clare "Phog" Allen (November 18, 1885 – September 16, 1974) was an American basketball coach and physician. Known as the "Father of Basketball Coaching,"Ray Meyer (724), and

John Wooden John Robert Wooden (October 14, 1910 – June 4, 2010) was an American basketball coach and player. Nicknamed "the Wizard of Westwood", he won ten National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, nati ...

(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 Agent may refer to: Espionage, investigation, and law *, spies or intelligence officers * Law of agency, laws involving a person authorized to act on behalf of another ** Agent of record, a person with a contractual agreement with an insuran ...

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

In the fall of 1937 at the University of Kansas, Miller took a

physiology Physiology (; ) is the science, scientific study of function (biology), functions and mechanism (biology), mechanisms in a life, living system. As a branches of science, subdiscipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ syst ...

class where the students were seated alphabetically. Next to him was an attractive student from

Topeka Topeka ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Shawnee County, Kansas, Shawnee County. It is along the Kansas River in the central part of Shawnee County, in northeaste ...

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 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

cigarette A cigarette is a narrow cylinder containing a combustible material, typically tobacco, that is rolled into Rolling paper, thin paper for smoking. The cigarette is ignited at one end, causing it to smolder; the resulting smoke is orally inhale ...

s, and chain-smoked More brand cigarettes during practices, on team buses, and in A dozen years after his retirement, Miller died in his sleep at age 82 at his home at Black Butte Ranch, northwest He had suffered from

congestive heart failure Heart failure (HF), also known as congestive heart failure (CHF), is a syndrome caused by an impairment in the heart's ability to fill with and pump blood. Although symptoms vary based on which side of the heart is affected, HF typically pr ...

and complications His wife Jean died at age 93 in 2014

Head coaching record

* 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

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Miller, Ralph 1919 births 2001 deaths American football quarterbacks American men's basketball players Basketball coaches from Kansas Basketball players from Kansas College men's basketball head coaches in the United States High school basketball coaches in the United States Iowa Hawkeyes men's basketball coaches Kansas Jayhawks football players Kansas Jayhawks men's basketball players Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductees Oregon State Beavers men's basketball coaches People from Chanute, Kansas Wichita State Shockers men's basketball coaches 20th-century American sportsmen