Cheryl Miller

Cheryl D. Miller (born January 3, 1964) is an American former basketball player.

She was formerly a sideline reporter for NBA games on TNT Sports and also works for NBA TV as a reporter and analyst, having worked previously as a sportscaster for ABC Sports, TBS Sports, and ESPN.

She was also head coach and general manager of the WNBA's Phoenix Mercury.

Miller played at Riverside Polytechnic High School (1978–1982) where she was a four-year letter winner and led her team to a 132–4 record.

She was awarded the Dial Award for the national high-school scholar-athlete of the year in 1981.

She was the first player, male or female, to be named an All-American by Parade magazine four times.

Averaging 32.8 points and 15.0 rebounds a game, Miller was Street & Smith's national High School Player of the Year in both 1981 and 1982.

In her senior year she scored 105 points in a game against Norte Vista High School.

She set California state records for points scored in a single season (1156), and points scored in a high school career (3405).

At the University of Southern California (USC), the 6 ft Miller played the forward position.

She was a four-year letter winner, scored 3,018 career points (tenth all-time in NCAA history), and was a four-time All-American.

Her career rebounding mark of 1,534 ranks her third all-time in NCAA history.

Miller was named Naismith College Player of the Year three times and earned the Wade Trophy (Player of the Year) once.

At USC, Miller led the Trojans to a 112–20 record and NCAA champion titles in 1983 and 1984 and was named NCAA Tournament MVP both years.

Miller played for the USA National team in the 1983 World Championships, held in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

The team won six games, but lost two against the Soviet Union.

In an opening round game, the USA team had a nine-point lead at halftime, but the Soviets came back to take the lead, and a final shot by the USA failed to drop, leaving the USSR team with a one-point victory 85–84, despite 23 points from Miller.

The USA team won their next four games, setting up the gold medal game against USSR.

This game was also close, and was tied at 82 points each with six seconds to go in the game.

The Soviets' Elena Chausova received the inbounds pass and hit the game winning shot in the final seconds, giving the USSR team the gold medal with a score of 84–82.

The USA team earned the silver medal.

Miller led the team in scoring, averaging 17.6 points per game, and tied for the lead in rebounding at 4.4 per game.

Miller's teammates included Cynthia Cooper, two-time WNBA MVP; Pamela McGee, 1984 Olympian and All-American, and Paula McGee, 1982 and 1983 All-American.

Miller was coached by Linda K. Sharp, one of college basketball's winningest coaches.

In her senior season, Miller picked up her third Naismith Award, the Broderick Award as the Female College Basketball Player of the Year and Sports Illustrated named her the best player in college basketball, male or female.

Miller still holds numerous Trojan career records, including points (3,018, 23.6 ppg), rebounds (1,534, 12.0 rpg), field goals made (1,159), free throws made (700), games played (128), and steals (462).

Miller's previous Trojan records in assists (414) was almost doubled by Rhonda Windham (735); Lisa Leslie topped her blocked shot record by one (321).

In 1984, the USA sent its National team to the 1984 William Jones Cup competition in Taipei, Taiwan, for pre-Olympic practice.

The team easily beat each of the eight teams they played, winning by an average of just under 50 points per game.

Miller led the team in scoring, averaging 15.1 points per game, led the team in rebounding with 4.4 per game and led the team in steals with 27.

Miller led the U.S. team to the gold medal at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles and was also part of the gold medal team at the 1983 Pan American Games in Caracas, Venezuela.

In 1986, Miller was nominated for the James E. Sullivan Award, and in that same year, USC retired her #31 jersey, the first retired jersey of a basketball player, male or female, at USC.

Miller was selected to represent the US at the inaugural Goodwill games, held in Moscow in July 1986.

North Carolina State's Kay Yow served as head coach.

The team opened up with a 72–53 victory over Yugoslavia, led by 19 points from Miller, and followed that with a 21-point win over Brazil 91–70.

In 1993 she took the head coaching job at her alma mater, USC, after the university chose to fire coach Marianne Stanley.

In 1995, Miller was enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts.

In 1999, she was inducted into the inaugural class of the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame, located in Knoxville, Tennessee.

On August 20, 2010, Miller was also inducted into the FIBA Hall of Fame for her success in international play.

She is the sister of retired NBA star and fellow Hall of Famer Reggie Miller and former Major League Baseball catcher Darrell Miller.