Ben Miller

Title:	Head Coach
Email:	benton.miller@uncp.edu
Phone:	(910) 521-6343
College:	Luther, 1991

Head Coach Dr. Ben Miller enters his fourth campaign at the helm of the UNC Pembroke Braves basketball program for the 2011-2012 season. In three seasons in Pembroke, Miller has accumulated a 33-51 overall record with an 17-39 mark in the Peach Belt Conference after taking over a program that had gone 19-66 in the three years prior to his arrival, including 9-47 in the PBC.

The 2010-11 campaign saw many firsts happen for the UNCP men’s basketball program. After being picked to finish last by the league's coaches prior to the start of the season, the team advanced to their first-ever PBC Tournament Championship game and qualified for the NCAA Division II National Tournament for the first time in school history. The team also set a new record for wins in a season since joining the NCAA Division II ranks with 18 victories on the season. Sophomores Shahmel Brackett and George Blakeney made appearances on the All-PBC Tournament squad, with Brackett also taking home Third-Team All-PBC laurels. After making a point during the previous offseason to improve his squad's rebounding efforts, the Braves finished the year seventh in the nation in rebounding margin (+8.0) and led the Peach Belt Conference in the same category while also leading the conference in offensive rebounding. His 2010-11 squad also finished 36th in the country in both defensive field goal percentage (40.9%) and blocked shots per game (4.2).

Having spent the previous 18 years as an assistant for some of the country's most elite head coaches, Miller came to Pembroke following a four-year stint (2004-08) as both an assistant coach and associate head coach for Missouri State where he helped lead the Bears to a cumulative 80-49 record, including a trio of postseason National Invitation Tournament appearances, under head coach Barry Hinson.

Missouri State registered 22 wins in each of the 2005-06 and 2006-07 seasons, while tallying a second place finish in the Missouri Valley Conference in 2005-06 and a third place finish in the latter. The 2005-06 campaign included a pair of wins, as well as a quarterfinal loss to Louisville, in the NIT tournament, while the Bears also boasted a 74.2 points per game scoring average. This past season, MSU turned in a 17-16 clip which included wins over NCAA Tournament participants Drake and Winthrop.

Prior to his stint at MSU, Miller served nine seasons on the coaching staff at Kansas under two different head coaches, including current Jayhawks' skipper Bill Self. Miller joined the KU staff on a full time basis in 1995 under then-head coach Roy Williams as an administrative assistant and was elevated to an assistant coach position in 1998 when Matt Doherty departed Lawrence, Kan., to become head coach at Notre Dame. He remained on the KU staff as director of game operations when Self took over the reigns of the program in 2003.

His duties over his lengthy tenure with the Jayhawks included game and practice coaching, recruiting, video coordinator duties and working with Kansas basketball camps and clinics. He was also charged with the arduous duties of overseeing the academic progress and strength and conditioning work of Kansas student-athletes. He also assisted with the KU junior varsity squad.

Kansas appeared in 10 NCAA tournaments during Miller's time in Lawrence, including three Final Four appearances, two regional final (Elite Eight) showings and one Sweet 16 appearance. Along the way, the Jayhawks compiled a 258-59 win-loss record and won six Big 8/Big 12 titles and four conference tournament championships. During that same time frame, KU achieved nine listings in the final Top 25 polls, including six top five rankings.

During his storied 18-year coaching career, Miller has been involved in the grooming of 17 all-conference players and 30 academic all-conference honorees. Those numbers also include eight all-Americans, five conference players of the year and six conference freshman/newcomer of the year laurels.

A basketball player and team captain at Luther College in Decorah, Iowa, Miller graduated from Luther in 1991 with a bachelor's degree in psychology before graduating from Northern Iowa with a master's degree in physical education. Miller began his doctorate work in sport psychology at Kansas in 1992 where he worked three years in an assistantship program.

Miller and his wife, Heather, have two children, Charlie and Betsie. Heather is a native of New Mexico and is a Luther graduate as well. Miller is the son of long-time Division I head coach Eldon Miller who compiled a 568-419 record in his 36-year coaching career that included stops at Wittenberg (OH), Western Michigan, Ohio State and Northern Iowa.

BEN MILLER'S COACHING CAREER

1995-99: University of Kansas, Administrative Assistant
Four NCAA Appearances, 1995 Final Four, 1996 Elite Eight, 1997 Sweet 16, 4 Big 8/Big 12 Titles

1999-04: University of Kansas, Assistant Coach
Five NCAA Appearances, 2002 Final Four, 2003 Final Four, 2004 Elite Eight, Two Big 12 Titles

2004-07: Missouri State University, Assistant Coach
2005 NIT Tournament, 2006 NIT Tournament, 2007 NIT Tournament

2007-08: Missouri State University, Associate Head Coach
Defeated NCAA Tournament Participants Drake, Winthrop
 
2008-Present: UNC Pembroke, Head Coach
2011 NCAA Tournament Participant, School Record For Division II Wins In A Season (18, 2010-11), First Appearance in PBC Tournament Championship Game

UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA HEAD COACH ROY WILLIAMS ON MILLER

"I am ecstatic for Ben and also for UNC Pembroke. I think it is a great match. Ben Miller worked with me for several years and is just one of the most confident, organized and ethical people I have ever been around in my life. I couldn't be happier for him in getting his chance to be a head coach. He's got a challenging situation, but he has great people there to work with. I am extremely happy for both groups and I am glad he is closer here because I really do enjoy him a great deal."

"I think he has many strengths - his organizational skills and his people skills really jump out at you and the enthusiasm that he has for the sport. The sincerity when he works with the players is always so evident. All of those things come to mind even before I start talking about his basketball ability and his technical approach to the game. It should be that way though because Ben is so much more a people person than he is just X's and O's."